Healthy and sustainable go hand in hand – and it could not be different when talking about food, which is also closely linked to both. So, check out some tips for healthy eating in a sustainable way. Seven healthy and sustainable eating tips.
Seven healthy and sustainable eating tips
Seven healthy and sustainable eating tips
1. Be vegetarian at least once a week
You may have heard of the Monday Without Meat campaign, created by the family of musician Paul McCartney. According to data from the campaign ‘s official website in Brazil, average meat consumption currently has a water footprint of 3800 liters of water per person per day.
Each kilogram of beef demands 5 kilograms of plant foods, which could feed many people, and produces 335 kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO2), which is released into the atmosphere, which is equivalent to driving a car for 1600 kilometers.
Also, not eating meat once a week will be very good for your health. According to a study by the Department of Public Health at the University of Oxford, if everyone in England stopped eating meat four days a week, 31,000 deaths from heart disease and 9,000 deaths from stroke (stroke) would be prevented every year.
But beware: there is little point in exchanging meat for animal products such as cheeses and butter. To have a healthy diet increases your consumption of vegetables!
2. Prefer organic food
The Rodale Institute, which has an experimental organic farming project in the USA, celebrated its 30th anniversary by publishing an incredible result: in addition to protecting the soil, organic farming uses 45% less energy and generates 40% fewer greenhouse gases than conventional, which, by using many pesticides, causes a lot of damage to our health and the environment.
Some studies have already linked pesticides to genetic mutations, reduced IQ in children and infertility. I also prefer the seasonal fruits, which are more economical and nutritious.
3. Be careful with your pans
Taking care of pans is one of the healthy eating tips. If the bottom of the pan is bent, it uses more energy (an expense compared to that of an old refrigerator), because the direction of the stove’s flame is lost, requiring more time to prepare and heat your food.
When buying new cookware, consider the options of stainless steel or coated and cast iron, which is more difficult to bend ( know the pros and cons of the different types of cookware ).
To discard your old pots, look for specialized stations with our search engine. Also pay attention to the size of the pan, which, if it is smaller than the “mouth” of the flame, wastes up to 40% more energy.
4. Be raw once a week
The proposal of raw food as one of the healthy eating tips is even more daring than being vegetarian for a day, but it has many advantages. Raw food is the practice of eating only raw foods and its supporters defend the idea that this way they get much more efficient nutrition because some vitamins and minerals are lost when the food is heated.
Of course, for the practice, the strict vegetarian diet (that is, excluding meat, eggs, and milk – even pasteurization causes loss of nutrients) is the easiest and safest, as raw animal foods can transmit various diseases they must receive a specific preparation so that they can be served raw without harming our health.
So, unless you have experience with this type of preparation, it is better not to risk it. And that does not mean that you will spend all day eating “dull stuff”. You can even make chocolate cake without taking it to the oven! How about a banana ice cream? Here’s how to do it: ” Transform very ripe bananas into ice cream “.
5. Avoid waste
Food waste has a very high water footprint, as 70% of the available water is used in food production. In addition, there are other externalities, such as burning fuel when transporting these foods. Meet 18 tips to avoid wasting food at home.
6. Eat lentils!
The New Year’s darling brings several benefits to our health on any day of the year. It protects the heart, helps to reduce cholesterol and blood sugar, is a source of iron, phosphorus, B vitamins (including B9 – folic acid, so important for pregnant women) and proteins.
In addition, it contains tryptophan, which is a substance capable of improving your mood. Seven healthy and sustainable eating tips
7. Eat your family meals and call your friends
You will have fun with everyone and look after your health and that of your children. Children and adolescents who eat their meals with the family have greater emotional stability.
In addition, when dining with several friends, you avoid waste, as you are cooking only once, reducing the number of stoves that would be turned on to feed the same amount of people. Seven healthy and sustainable eating tips
