How To Eat Healthily As A Family

One of the many jobs that a parent needs to have under control in their households is ensuring that their whole family eats healthily as much of the time as possible. Of course, the occasional treat such as a candy bar, takeout, or a bag of chips, for example, is not a bad thing – it should even be encouraged – but you should always eat it in moderation. Staying fit and healthy by having a good, well-balanced diet isn’t something that all parents find easy, but it is crucial, so here are some valuable tips to help you make it happen.

Photo by August de Richelieu

Eat More Fruits and Vegetables
There is no need to get overly fancy with your food and start to create elaborate dishes (unless you want to, of course) when it comes to making dinner for your family. A simple dish with plenty of fruit and vegetables will be just as good. Unless you are a chef in a restaurant, the taste and what the meal is made of is most important rather than looks, so you don’t need to worry too much about that.

When your family is getting a good amount of fruit and vegetables each day, they will also be getting a good amount of vitamins and minerals, which is what their body needs to keep working efficiently. It can be hard to persuade children to eat this kind of food, but there are a good many recipes in which the vegetable element is hidden. As well as this, if you have supplements ready to top everyone up, you can enhance their health significantly.

Have Less Salt
Salt is fine in moderation; it can make food taste a lot better and bring out the flavor of certain ingredients. However, too much salt is a bad idea and certainly not something that will enable your family to eat healthily. Too much salt can raise blood pressure, cause heart problems, and even cause dehydration.

When you cook your own food, you have much more control over how much salt your family is eating. If you want to cut down completely, try to use other seasonings to add flavor. This would include various herbs and spices such as cayenne pepper or garlic, and there are many more that all have a unique taste to them. When you buy processed, ready-to-eat food from the store, check the salt content; you will be surprised at just how much there is in there, and you’ll see why it’s best to cook from scratch instead. A cold pasta salad with Italian dressing is a perfect example of a simple, tasty, and nutritious meal you could serve.

Reduce Portion Size
Sometimes it’s not necessarily what you eat, it’s how much you eat. You might have a healthy meal, but if you eat a massive portion of it, then it’s still not going to be good for you. If you like to serve large portions, you’re certainly not alone – many parents do this as they are keen for their children to have a good meal. However, this might be doing more harm than good since children – and adults – could be eating more than they should.

Instead of serving large portions, gradually reduce the amount you put on the plates. They will probably not even notice it happening since they didn’t need the extra food anyway. It is far better to serve less and offer second servings than serving a lot that people eat just because it’s there, rather than because they are hungry.

This is a collaborative post.