Many people would like to eat a healthier diet. Changing our eating habits can be difficult because of lack of knowledge and cooking skills. Food choices are influenced by our perceptions of ourselves, our beliefs about health, our identities, and our emotions (stress, anxiety, boredom, sadness).

Genes play a significant role in what you eat. Also, food choices and dietary behaviors are influenced by:

• Desire to feel good

• Taste of food (sweet, bitter, salty and sour) includes the smell and texture of the food.

• Habits learned from our childhoods and upbringings

• Fear of being fat

• Body weight and appearance

• Availability of fruits and vegetables

• Easy access to fast food is tasty, tempting, comforting, addictive, and cheap

• Cost (food prices, lack of time to purchase, prepare and cook food).

• Marketing of fast food, discounts on unhealthy foods and beverages

It is well known that an unhealthy diet increases the risk of chronic diseases and obesity. Poor diet is one of the leading risk factors for disease and death globally (Gakidou et al., 2016).  

• • A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and lean meats is good for your health.  

  • You should reduce your intake of red meat, alcohol, processed foods, trans fats, and sodium.

  • You should eliminate sweet beverages, deep-fried food, and industrial foods from your diet.

Reference

1.      Fernqvist, F., Spendrup, S., & Tellström, R. (2024). Understanding food choice: A systematic review of reviews. Heliyon, 10(12).

2.      Gakidou E, Afshin A, Abajobir AA, et al. Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and meta-bolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Lancet. 2017; 390:1345–1422.

3.      Santos M, Assunção R. Food Choice, Nutrition, and Public Health. Foods. 2025 Apr 2;14(7):1243. doi: 10.3390/foods14071243. PMID: 40238469; PMCID: PMC11988923.

4.      Zorbas, C., Palermo, C., Chung, A., Iguacel, I., Peeters, A., Bennett, R., & Backholer, K. (2018). Factors perceived to influence healthy eating: a systematic review and meta-ethnographic synthesis of the literature. Nutrition reviews, 76(12), 861-874.

 To improve your diet and maintain a healthy balanced diet, follow these steps.    

1. The first step is to examine your current behavior. Identify the reasons you eat what you eat, and find a way to overcome those obstacles.

2. Decide what health goal you want to achieve. Increase strength and energy, prevent constipation, bloating, and heartburn, keep blood glucose, cholesterol, and blood pressure in a healthy range, reduce anxiety and joint pain, etc. are a few examples of immediate goals.

3. Identify the foods you want to include in your diet. You can find delicious and easy-to-prepare meals on our website. The internet is a great place to find healthy, delicious recipes.

4. Create a meal plan

5. Set aside time to buy groceries and prepare food and meals

6. Monitor health outcomes

Be curious. Occasionally, try a new healthy recipe.

Be kind to yourself. Start slow.

• If you have a limited budget, consider eating less meat and finding alternative nutrient-dense foods. Replace animal protein with plant-based proteins. Beans, nuts, seeds, and legumes are all good sources of protein. Use frozen or dried ingredients.

• Find ways to reduce food preparation time.

• Frozen fruits and vegetables are cheaper than fresh fruits and vegetables.

Change begins today. You can find tools to examine your current behaviors, identify barriers, and find ways to overcome them here:

 https://ecelevate.learnworlds.com/course/healing-and-transformation-program

 Among other things, this program includes meal plan and shopping list as well as delicious meal ideas to help restore your gut health, boost immunity and energy.  There is also a meal planning template so you can create your own healthy diet to maintain the change.