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| A balanced diet: Essential to a
healthy lifestyle |
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Enjoying a balanced diet is
an effective way to maintain a healthy lifestyle, but you should note that
diet and lifestyle should not be assumed to be responsible for causing your
constipation. The following tips may be useful and interesting for ensuring
you have a balanced diet: |
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If you do introduce changes to your diet, they should be
made gradually |
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Sudden changes can upset your body's digestive process. |
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Protein: Meat, fish and
tofu are all sources of protein. Be sure to get enough protein, but
do not go overboard. It is a misconception that the more protein in
a diet, the better. Too much protein can be harmful, and may slow
your digestion. Too little, on the other hand, can lead to fatigue
or lack of resistance to infection. |
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Fats: Red meat, eggs,
nuts, milk and milk products are the main sources of saturated fats
in most people's diets - try to keep them to a minimum. You can
reduce your intake of saturated fats by substituting fish, poultry,
beans and peas for some of the red meat in your diet. These foods
are much lower in saturated fat and cholesterol, which has been
associated with heart disease. |
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Carbohydrates: Foods like
rice, potatoes, pasta and noodles give our bodies energy and are
good sources of carbohydrates. White sugar is also a carbohydrate,
but should be kept to a minimum. If you crave something sweet, try
satisfying your taste buds with a piece of fruit. Fruit contains
natural sugar but also contributes fibre and other nutrients to your
diet. |
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Vitamins and minerals: Do
not think that you can eat an unbalanced diet and ‘catch up’ on your
vitamins and minerals by taking just a multivitamin/ multimineral
supplement. Eating healthy food that meets all your nutritional
needs naturally is the most important aspect of a balanced diet.
However, under certain conditions the need for vitamins and minerals
can not be sufficiently covered by the daily food intake. In such
cases it is worthwhile - or even necessary - to consider the use of
extra vitamins and minerals. |
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