HEALTH AND BEAUTY

Top Diet Trends To Jump On This Year With the New Year now underway, many of you may be looking at little things that you can do to improve the nutrition of your diet. Constantly staying on the lookout for the latest research regarding what works and what doesn’t when it comes to your diet is important if you hope to see success. Recently a study put out by Pollock Communications listed a few key points that you should keep in mind. If you can start to incorporate these into your very own diet program, you should see progress coming your way. Think Green The first trend is to think all natural. The more natural you can make your diet, the better says dieticians of this research group. Much focus in today’s world will be placed on eating foods that come in their completely natural state while turning away from all the processed foods that line the supermarket shelves. Use Herbs More Often The second trend that you’ll see being mentioned more often in 2012 is using spices to add flavor to your foods rather than condiments and sauces. Many spices have their own unique benefits as well, so this further adds to the benefits you’ll receive from having them in your diet plan. Just be on the lookout for high-sodium spices and make sure that you stay away from this variety. Focus On Micronutrients Micronutrients will be another large focus for many people moving into the coming year. Rather than strictly looking at how many grams of protein, carbs, and fats you’re consuming, more people will be looking at fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. More awareness is being raised about just how important these nutrients are to form a healthy diet so people are starting to make sure that their diet doesn’t have any weak spots where nutritional density is low. Seasonal Produce Is Big More focus is also going to be placed on all the seasonal fruits and vegetables that you can buy. Far too many people are getting in the habit of consuming the same foods day in and day out and this is having a very negative impact on their nutritional standing. Start experimenting with new options when you see them at the supermarket. Use MyPlate As A Guide The old food guide is now being replaced by a new guide – the MyPlate guide, which has a brand new set-up to consider for your food consumption. With this set-up, you’ll be having half your plate divided between protein sand grains, with the other half consisting of vegetables and fruits. Dairy will be a small serving on the side to add extra protein and calcium. This much smaller dedication to grain products is going to help to combat diabetes along with many other negative health conditions associated with a very large carb intake. So there you have the primary points to consider as you move into 2012. Follow these and you can feel confident your diet will be better because of them. UMESH CHOUDHARY