Rubric Healthy eating: weight control and physical activity

Healthy nutrition: how important it is, at all ages

The nutritional criteria codified in the "Guidelines for a healthy diet" and in the document relating to the "Reference Levels of Nutrient and Energy Intake" (LARN), highlight a fundamental point: eating well and making healthy lifestyle choices are two behaviors that must be repeated throughout the course of existence.

In fact, it takes very little to nullify the results obtained with the necessary commitment and it is not at all worthwhile to abandon a correct nutrition line, even and above all when you are in good health.

All the more reason, if a disease arises, it becomes essential to accompany any drug therapies with a diet appropriate to the contingent situation.

Sometimes it may be necessary to change your eating habits, but most of the time it is enough to take some precautions to improve the health conditions in their entirety.

For example, it is essential to choose a diet consisting of healthy but palatable foods, not to impose unnecessary sacrifices, but to be guided by rationality and a sense of proportion, to eat at fixed and regular times, varying the dishes and adapting them to caloric needs.

Weight control and physical activity

We already know that maintaining the ideal physical shape is the result of a behavior that includes two functions in synergy: proper nutrition and regular motor activity.

The fight against obesity and diseases, some of which are strongly influenced by wrong nutritional choices, is based on the principle that our body works better and reacts to the onset of diseases if it is adequately 'prepared'.

The weight of the human body is, in fact, a clear indicator of the elements that make up the organism; in turn, these elements are determined by the intake of 'useful' food substances to optimize the state of health or, vice versa, to compromise the overall well-being of the person.

It is true that metabolism varies from one individual to another and there is no one-size-fits-all eating and behavioral plan, but there are some general principles that, when followed, yield indisputable benefits.

The first of these principles refers to the need to limit calorie intake to the needs of the body, which means that not only is it better to eat healthy foods (mainly low in saturated, nutritious and satiating fats), but that the quantities to be consumed they must be commensurate with age, the amount of work to be done daily and the physical activity performed.

Movement itself constitutes a formidable incentive for well-being: it is not necessary to force the body to undergo strenuous workouts which, instead of being useful, would be counterproductive.

On the contrary, it is enough to commit to physical activity, even light or moderate, as long as it is constant and regular: in other words, it would be useless - and harmful - to train for several hours in a discontinuous manner, better to keep the body always active, distributing equally the moments to devote to movement and preferring the use of muscles to that of machines.

Body weight control, nutrition and medium-term benefits

In this regard, there are apparently 'spontaneous' and natural behaviors that can produce excellent results, especially if they become acquired habits: a considerable advantage, at any age, derives from the choice of climbing stairs rather than taking the elevator, from going to to school or to work on foot rather than by public transport, from taking twenty minutes of brisk walking or light running two or three times a week.

Physical activity, carried out in this way, produces evident benefits already in the short term: the joints melt, breathing becomes less labored even under stress and, in the long run, muscle atrophy and overweight are prevented.

By combining sports practice with proper nutrition, the results will be optimized, physical fatigue will also gradually decrease and you will notice an improvement in efficiency even in carrying out daily activities.