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A healthy eating plan is the cornerstone of effective weight management, but maintaining a healthy weight is just one benefit of good nutrition. Here, learn seven other ways optimal nutrition benefits your health.
Most of us know eating a healthy diet is an important part of weight management, but that’s just one benefit associated with good nutrition. Optimizing your eating habits helps you in other important ways.
At Premier Physicians Weight Loss & Wellness, Dana Trippi, DO, and her team help patients improve their overall health and wellness with nutritional counseling. Here, learn seven ways better nutrition can set the stage for a healthier future.
1. Better immune system health
Your immune system depends on vitamins and minerals to fight off germs that can cause infections. Most of us know about vitamin C’s reputation for battling colds, but vitamin D and minerals like zinc, selenium, and iron also play key roles.
A strong immune system can help decrease your risks of colds, flu, and other infections and diseases, and it also promotes optimal wound healing following an injury or surgery.
2. Decreased risks of chronic diseases
Good nutrition reduces your risks of chronic diseases that can cause long-term disability and illness. Diabetes, heart disease, and some types of cancer are influenced by what you eat and the balance of nutrients available for your cells and tissues.
Just as critical as eating foods rich in vitamins, minerals, proteins, and healthy fats is avoiding unhealthy foods. That includes foods with preservatives and artificial ingredients, fatty or deep-fried foods, and foods high in salt (sodium) and sugar.
3. Improved emotional well-being and brain health
The benefits of good nutrition don’t end with physical health. Eating well also boosts your emotional well-being. Many nutrients improve cognitive functioning, such as memory, concentration, and focus.
Other nutrients support normal nerve communication and neurotransmitter production in your brain, regulating your moods and decreasing the risks of depression and anxiety.
4. Better energy levels
The food you eat is a source of energy for every cell in your body, supporting an array of vital functions. A diet that doesn’t include the right amounts of micronutrients and macronutrients can leave you tired and worn out, no matter how much sleep you get.
On the other hand, a healthy, balanced diet supports your body and provides a natural energy boost that leaves you more energized, alert, and focused.
5. Enhanced sleep quality
Nighttime heartburn is just one way diet can affect sleep. Other nutrients can affect your sleep health. If you’ve ever felt sleepy after a heavy meal or eating tryptophan-rich foods, like turkey, you’ve experienced one effect firsthand.
Many foods promote the production of sleep hormones, regulating your body’s natural clock to make it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep.
6. Improved digestive health
Your digestive system extracts nutrients from the foods you eat. It requires a ready supply of nutrients to keep the organs and functions involved in digestion working how they should.
If your diet is low in fiber, for instance, digestion slows, and you may experience irregular bowel activity or irritable bowel syndrome. Other macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals break down food into usable calories.
7. Better musculoskeletal health and healthy aging
Your bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments require plenty of protein, vitamins, and minerals, like calcium and phosphorus, to retain strength and flexibility. Optimizing your diet helps you stay active while reducing the risks of injuries.
Plus, by keeping bones and muscles healthy now, you can reduce your risks of age-related issues like osteoporosis and fall-related injuries.
Optimizing your nutrition isn’t always easy, especially if you don’t know your nutritional deficiencies. Nutritional counseling uses lab work, medical history, and eating habits to tailor a plan to your needs, letting you enjoy all the benefits good nutrition offers.
To learn more about our nutrition services and how they can help you, request an appointment online or over the phone today with the team at Premier Physicians Weight Loss & Wellness in Las Vegas, Henderson, and Reno, Nevada.