Healthy living habits are becoming increasingly prominent in our society, as we become more and more aware. Taking care of what we eat is essential but it is not as simple as it seems.

A healthy diet is one that allows our body to function properly and ensures optimum development and growth at every stage of life.

Combining a healthy diet with other healthy habits such as ensuring you get regular exercise and good quality sleep are fundamental when taking care of your body.

In order to achieve the goal of a healthy lifestyle, here’s some advice for you:

Eat a varied diet
You can only get a variety of nutrients by eating all kinds of food. And from all the major food groups (cereals, fruit, vegetables, oils, dairy products, etc) because no food contains in itself all the nutrients you need.

Eat more fruit and vegetables.
We should be eating more plant-based foods and reducing our intake of animal origin foods. One clear example is the Mediterranean diet, which promotes the consumption of cereals, fruit, vegetables and legumes, fibre, etc. It also includes fish, olive oil and a moderate intake of meat and animal fats.

Appropriate proportion of each food.
It is important to eat everything, but also to know the right proportions of each food type. The Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (Semfyc) suggests this guide:

Five meals a day.
Another key to a healthy diet is to eat 5 meals a day: breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner.

Plenty of liquids.
Drinking plenty of water is essential for a healthy lifestyle and for life itself. Recommended consumption is 1 or 2 litres a day, which would be between 4 and 8 glasses approximately.