When you have a condition like diabetes, however, you need to be extra careful about what you put in your body in case it interferes with your blood sugar. You definitely need to supplement your insulin if your pancreas isn’t producing it or is not working properly. But just as diabetics have to watch what they eat, they also have to be cautious about supplements.

However, there may be supplements that can reduce the risks of developing diabetes or mitigating its effects. You can’t cure diabetes, so be skeptical of any miraculous-sounding claims, but there’s been lots of research into whether certain herbs, spices and other plant-based additions can help diabetes.

The evidence is mixed (https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/diabetes-and-dietary-supplements). Popular herbal supplements for diabetes include cinnamon, ginger, aloe vera, bitter melon, ginseng and fenugreek. There are some studies that suggest they have a slight benefit on blood sugar levels and others that say they have no effect at all. You do need to be careful if you’re taking other medications or have other medical conditions in case they interact.

One mineral that definitely has a relationship with blood sugar is chromium. A chromium deficiency in your diet can stop your body from properly controlling its glucose levels. People with a chromium deficiency can take chromium supplements. There is some evidence that these supplements may also help diabetics, although the research is limited.

Another potential substance that is being researched with some positive signs is alpha-lipoic acid, which may lower the risk of diabetic neuropathy. Magnesium may make you less likely to develop diabetes in the first place. Other vitamins and probiotics are also being researched. The evidence pool is only growing.

The key things to remember when it comes to supplements, whether you’re diabetic or not, is that they’re no substitute for a healthy diet, and they should only ever be taken in moderation. Always talk to your doctor about your specific situation before embarking on any course of supplements.

The post Diabetic Considerations appeared first on Dr Asa Andrew.

When it comes to minerals, there’s one in particular to watch out for: sodium. That’s right, we’re talking about salt. Too much salt is one of the biggest risk factors when it comes to high blood pressure (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1930921/). There are a few reasons for this, including the fact that it changes how the arteries work and it affects how your body retains fluids.

Conversely, there are other minerals that you should try to include in your diet if you want to lower your blood pressure. Potassium, magnesium and calcium easily top the list of good blood pressure minerals (https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/key-minerals-to-help-control-blood-pressure). They should show up in any healthy, balanced diet with plenty of vegetables. If you can’t get them from your diet for whatever reason, you may need to supplement them.

Like sodium, potassium plays a key role in the amount of fluid in your body. It also influences your heart rate (helping it avoid an irregular rhythm) and it can relax your blood vessels so your blood pressure becomes lower. Good potassium sources include dried fruit like apricots and prunes, different types of nuts and beans, yams and potatoes.

Not many people get enough magnesium in their diets. That may be because it’s prominent in leafy green vegetables like spinach and kale, which don’t always attract the most enthusiasm. You can also find it in some types of cereal. You need magnesium because of its impact on bones, muscles and nerves, including blood vessels.

Then there’s calcium. You might think of this mostly because of its role in bone health and because it’s why you were encouraged as a child to drink your milk. You find it in fish and leafy greens as well as dairy, and it impacts hormones, enzymes, blood vessels and bones.

The minerals that affect blood pressure (sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium) can also affect each other. Sometimes one going up will be enough to make another go down. Your blood pressure can change because of the interaction between these minerals. It’s complicated stuff, but the main thing for you to remember is to make sure you eat a balanced diet.

The post Managing Blood Pressure appeared first on Dr Asa Andrew.

If the early research is any indicator, it may have higher levels of the essential vitamins we need to survive. In 2014, a British journal tried to review all the evidence gathered on organic food so far (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263432810_Higher_antioxidant_and_lower_cadmium_concentrations_and_lower_incidence_of_pesticide_residues_in_organically_grown_crops_A_systematic_literature_review_and_meta-analyses).

It’s not an absolute conclusion. There are other studies that suggest no discernible difference between the nutrient content of organic and non-organic food. It’s hard to measure when so many factors (such as weather, soil, and insects) can affect how crops grow. And some of the things that are higher in organic food, like antioxidants, are important to our bodies, but that still causes arguments among scientists who can’t agree on how important they are to our diet.

If organic food can improve our vitamin intake, that’s important. A lot of Americans don’t get all the vitamins and minerals they need. Sailors who went to sea without enough fruit would develop a horrible disease called scurvy because of their vitamin C deficiency. They’d grow tired and weak, with aching limbs. As it progressed, they might develop gum disease and start bleeding very easily. In its worst cases, it could be deadly.

That’s because vitamin C plays an essential role in skin health (both in the production of collagen and in healing wounds), in the immune system, and in the operation of certain enzymes in the body. Traditionally, humans get the vitamin C they need from fruits, particularly citrus (like oranges and lemons), but also kiwis and strawberries. If they’re overcooked or stored for too long, they might lose some of their vitamin content. Obviously, we want the vitamin C levels to be high enough for us to benefit.

There may be debate over the health benefits of organic food and just how much it can improve our vitamin intake, but eating organic isn’t going to harm you and may just help. With the popularity of organic continuing to grow, it’s likely there will be more investigation into whether claims of higher vitamin levels can stand up to scrutiny.

The post An Organic Boost appeared first on Dr Asa Andrew.

The main problem with drawing any conclusions is that lack of research. Humans have been eating organic for much of our history because before industrialization, there wasn’t any other option. Artificial pesticides and intensive farming techniques have only really been a thing for a century or two. We were farming for thousands of years before that.

Despite that, organic food as a reaction to industrial agriculture and its more destructive excesses is a more recent phenomenon. It’s growing more popular, but science is still trying to catch up. For something like longevity or the human lifespan, that research will clearly take a while. You need enough time to see how many people are reaching old age.

That means the relationship between organic food and longevity is going to be particularly hard to prove. How do you set up the experiment, accounting for all the other variables that influence lifespan? Do you wait decades for your subjects to grow old? What if people who eat organic food are more likely to have healthy lifestyles in other ways?

What we can do, however, is theorize about the impact we know organic food has on our current health and consider whether it may affect our long-term prospects. For example, eating more organic food means you’re going to be absorbing fewer pesticides into your system. Pesticides are more harmful if they build up in your system over time, like from the limited but repeated exposure you might get from regular consumption. It’s even more significant with farmworkers who may be in repeated contact with larger doses.

There are other potential benefits to organic produce, like slightly higher amounts of some of the nutrients that are good for us. It may also be particularly beneficial to certain groups, such as children or pregnant women. Longevity is complicated, so any little thing can help.

We might not be able to prove that organic foods improve longevity, but we can’t disprove it, either. It won’t do any harm, and it might help.

The post Longevity appeared first on Dr Asa Andrew.

We still, however, have a few foods that are “staples”. They’re the things that nearly everyone eats that contain many of the nutrients we need to survive. Potatoes. Corn. Beans. And one of the most popular, rice.

You might think of rice as an Asian staple, and it’s true that it has its origins in China, which remains the largest producer. There’s also a fair amount eaten in Africa. What you might not realize is there are also distinct types of rice being grown in America. For example, Carolina Gold in South Carolina (https://www.bluezones.com/2021/12/how-this-south-carolina-rice-could-help-you-live-to-100/#).

European colonists and African slaves brought rice to America, with South Carolina and Georgia among its first destinations. Today, most rice in the U.S. is grown in Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Texas, California and Mississippi. It’s just behind corn and wheat in terms of how much is produced. There’s been some effort, however, to restore South Carolina’s rice heritage.

You can have fried rice with your Chinese takeout or as the side for an Indian curry. Add it to jambalaya or with a Mexican chili con carne. Rice and peas is one of the most iconic dishes throughout the Caribbean islands, or you can stuff peppers or grape leaves with rice for a Middle Eastern or Mediterranean staple. Simple to grow and cook and with plenty of nutrients, rice can form a valuable part of a healthy lifestyle.

The most prominent nutrients in rice are water, which constantly needs replenishing in the body, and carbohydrates, which provide us with energy. There’s also protein, essential for growth and building and repairing muscles (though not enough for all your needs, so you’ll still need other food with it). Some rice may have low levels of other nutrients naturally, but in many places, it is fortified with various vitamins and minerals to enable it to form an even more important part of a balanced diet. That makes it even healthier overall.

Rice is eaten all around the world, but America has its own specific history that has led to healthy, nutritious golden rice becoming a dietary staple.

The post Golden Rice appeared first on Dr Asa Andrew.

The world of supplements can be a murky one. There are lots of unscrupulous suppliers out there, especially on the internet. Not everything that claims to work is effective or even safe. For those supplements that are considered food rather than medicine, regulation generally isn’t as strict. You need to be careful, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid supplements completely.

Most supplements used in the sports world are those that build muscle, but some people also look for those that can suppress appetite to help control their diet. If you get expert advice from doctors and dieticians first and make sure you only use trusted brands, you should be able to find the supplements that will work best for you.

Bodybuilding supplements tend to be high in protein, the nutrient most associated with the growth of muscle. One of the most popular types of protein supplement is whey. You can drink a protein shake, swallow a protein capsule or take a bite out of a protein bar before, during or after a workout. Remember that you do still need to eat plenty of protein in your regular diet as well.

Proteins are made up of amino acids, and you may find individual amino acids like glutamine, arginine, or branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) in some sports supplements. Other chemicals that are popular include creatine, HMB and essential fatty acids. Between them, they may help make your exercise more effective by increasing muscle and reducing fat.

You can’t use supplements as a quick fix, but they can be handy when you have gaps in your training or diet or there’s a particular goal that you’re aiming to reach. You’ll need to be prepared for any improvements to your physique to take time, even with supplements to help them along.

As always, if you have other medical conditions or you’re in a vulnerable group, take care before making any changes to your diet or lifestyle. Otherwise, just make sure you do your research properly.

The post Build That Muscle appeared first on Dr Asa Andrew.

Calcium comes fifth on the body’s list of elements and is the most common of its metals. It doesn’t just show up on its own, though. You need to absorb it from elsewhere, generally from your diet. As mentioned, it’s particularly present in dairy products like milk, cheese, butter and yogurt, which tend to top the recommendation list if you need a calcium boost.

Vegans and those with dairy allergies need not despair, however. You can also find plenty of calcium in leafy green vegetables like kale, as well as in sesame seeds, almonds, tofu, dried fruit and a host of other foods. Sardines are a good source, but they’re not vegan-friendly.

Teenagers in particular need to ensure they have enough calcium because of the rapid growth they’re likely to experience during puberty. Your bones will get longer with the rest of your body, and you’re also more likely to have the kind of active lifestyle that puts bones under more pressure. You need them to be strong and hard.

Osteoporosis is often known as brittle bone syndrome. It’s what happens when your bones aren’t dense enough. This can lead to them easily breaking, with elderly people in particular at risk. Osteoporosis can be caused by everything from low estrogen to alcoholism and chemotherapy, among other factors, but it does become more common as we grow older. Calcium deficiency is a prominent risk factor, but it’s not a cause.

This doesn’t mean you should start filling yourself with calcium supplements; even people who get enough calcium can develop osteoporosis). Most people should be able to receive enough calcium from their diets, but even if not, you need to be careful. An excess of calcium has been associated with health problems of its own. Too much calcium in your blood is known as hypercalcemia. Calcium can also interfere with the other minerals we need, like iron.

Drink your milk and consume other calcium-rich foods, but don’t overdo it. It’s just one small part of a balanced diet and maintaining your overall health.

The post Calcium appeared first on Dr Asa Andrew.

However, it’s not vitamin B that falls between vitamins A and C; it’s B vitamins. Plural. What’s going on? Well, there are actually eight different compounds that come under the heading of B vitamins. It’s somewhat confusing because they’re not numbered consecutively, which is why these eight vitamins finish on B12. The missing numbers used to be considered vitamins but have now been recognized as different types of chemicals.

B vitamins do have proper names in addition to their numbers. The ones that are still officially vitamins are thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine/pyridoxal/pyridoxamine, biotin, folate and cobalamins. Each has its own specific role, so you need to make sure you have all eight of them.

Important jobs for the B vitamins include the processing of carbohydrates, fats and proteins; the formation of important enzymes; contributing to cell growth and change; repairing DNA and ensuring that other vitamins work properly when they enter the body.

Most B vitamins can be found in a variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, eggs, dairy, meat and seafood. Some processed grains, such as flours and cereals, are fortified with extra nutrients like thiamine to ensure that people receive their recommended amount. There was a time when vitamin deficiencies were extremely common.

The importance of avoiding vitamin deficiencies becomes apparent when you take a look at some of the conditions caused when you don’t have enough B vitamins: beriberi from a lack of thiamine, pellagra when you don’t have enough niacin, pernicious anemia as just one of the types of anemia associated with a lack of B12. Some vitamin deficiencies are more common than others, but all of them can cause serious health complications. Some can even be fatal.

It’s not always easy to keep track of all the nutrients you need, let alone knowing if you’re eating enough of them. What is certain is that a balanced diet ensures that as many of these essential vitamins as possible make their way into your system, protecting you from some health problems.

The post 1-12 appeared first on Dr Asa Andrew.

Organic fruit, vegetables and other crops are grown without synthetic fertilizers or potentially harmful pesticides. There’s also no genetic modification. The aim is to keep crops high in nutrients while avoiding artificial and possibly damaging chemicals. Evidence suggests it may be fairly successful at this, but research is still in the early stages.

Growing crops in an organic manner has other benefits as well. It’s better for soil and water quality, which in turn helps biodiversity. Protection from pesticides helps other plants and animals survive better. Traditional techniques like crop rotation are more common in organic farming and also better for the soil.

There are disadvantages, however. Organic farms don’t always produce as many vegetables as non-organic ones, which can make it difficult to make enough to feed everyone who needs it. There can also be additional expense involved for farmers, which may translate to higher prices for consumers.

Techniques used in organic horticulture can have a bearing on organic meat production as well. For meat to be organic, the animals need to have been raised in conditions that meet organic standards. That means no feeding them plants or animal byproducts that aren’t organic.

In addition to not eating crops grown with pesticides, organic animals are not routinely dosed with antibiotics to support short-term growth and health. Excess antibiotic use has long-term health implications for not just animals but people. Bacteria can develop antibiotic resistance, which is when they learn how to fight back against antibiotics. It can stop antibiotics from being effective medical treatments.

It may be more expensive, but organic food does have specific advantages that are worth considering. If you understand what is meant by organic vegetables or organic meat, it can allow you to make an informed decision about whether the cost is worth it. There is a certain amount of reassurance that comes from knowing your organic food has been subjected to rigorous standards and testing before it can carry that label.

The post Plant And Animal appeared first on Dr Asa Andrew.

Some people, on the other hand, need very specific things from what they eat. This doesn’t just mean weight loss, although there are plenty of diets that claim to offer that (with varying degrees of validity). From age and specific health conditions to professional athletes and ethical or religious concerns, there are lots of factors to balance for an individual diet plan.

Professional athletes tailor their meals to develop the best physical condition for their sports. This might involve an eye-watering amount of carbs, far more than most people would dare to eat out of fear of obesity. Athletes burn far more energy than an average person, and they also need more protein if they’re planning to build muscle.

There are lots of medical conditions that can affect diet. The most obvious are food allergies, which commonly include things like dairy, gluten, nuts, soy or seafood. Eating these things can cause a serious reaction and may even be fatal. Intolerances aren’t as serious as allergies, but they can cause a lot of discomfort. Then there are other conditions, like diabetes, which are heavily impacted by what you eat (in the case of diabetes, sugar levels).

Certain religions have specific dietary rules. The most famous are probably halal in Islam and kosher in Judaism. These requirements may include how animals are killed or the way crops are grown, what food you can eat or whether certain ingredients can be mixed together. Religious people are also likely to vary in how much they adhere to their dietary codes.

Ethical diets are something that have gained a lot more attention in recent years. Prominent examples include the increasing popularity of vegetarianism and veganism. People might follow these diets because of worries about animal cruelty or out of a wider concern for the environmental impact of the agricultural industry.

These are just some considerations that lead people to follow specialist diets. While everyone still needs their balance of nutrients to stay healthy, a food plan should account for any other factors involved.

The post Specialist Diets appeared first on Dr Asa Andrew.

You may choose organic because you want to be more careful about what goes into your body, and you may like the environmental benefits or the improvements in animal welfare. No matter why you do it, if you’re going organic in skincare, you may want to go organic with food as well.

There’s lots of debate about the health effects of organic food, with much of the research still in the early stages, but you’re probably most interested in what it does for your skin and how you look. There are certainly some experts who think it may do you some good.

In particular, organic food may have a role to play in reducing your risk of developing acne. You probably know that acne has a lot to do with hormones – that’s why it tends to make its most dramatic appearances in the teenage years. Well, non-organic meat and dairy often comes from animals that have been treated with hormones to artificially boost their growth.

Organic meat and dairy don’t have these increased hormone levels, so eating them doesn’t risk increasing your own hormones with potentially unfortunate side effects. Some people find that switching to organic reduces their breakouts.

Of course, everyone’s different in terms of what their skin reacts to and what it doesn’t. If you’re particularly sensitive, any change may help clear things up – or it may make things worse. As always, pay attention to your body and its reactions.

Your skin health is also dependent on your overall health. Skin can become dry and tired because of a range of conditions or nutrient deficiencies. If organic food does have higher levels of good nutrients and lower levels of potentially harmful chemicals, that’s going to be good for your body as a whole, and that’s likely to be reflected in your skin.

We all know that diet can have a powerful influence on how your skin looks and feels. Research into the impact of organic food may not be conclusive, but it makes sense that a significant change to what you eat could also change how you look.

The post The Look Of The Thing appeared first on Dr Asa Andrew.

Aging comes with lots of side effects, both physical and mental. Some are serious health problems (such as increased risk of strokes or dementia) and some are more cosmetic (wrinkles, gray hair), but all can have a big impact on us. Nutrition is one of the most important ways to mitigate these effects.

What exactly do we need to eat? As always, there needs to be a balance between all the different nutrients. If you have a slight deficiency in one vitamin, it might not be enough to cause a serious illness, but it may stop your body from running at maximum efficiency. When that happens, it’s the long-term and cosmetic aspects that lose out to the immediate essentials of living.

When it comes to anti-aging, there are specific ingredients that you may be told to look out for. These include those high in vitamins, minerals, good fats and antioxidants. You’ll also need plenty of water to keep you hydrated. Get it right, and it will show on your skin first.

Skin is the most visually apparent aspect of your body, so it’s what people see and judge you by. Proper nutrition will keep your skin soft, bright and hydrated rather than dry, saggy and wrinkly. Taking care of your skin also means increased protection from illness and injury (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7146365/). Look out for things that boost collagen production.

Part of the trouble is that as we get older, it’s hard to maintain proper nutrition. Perhaps people have trouble with digestion, or maybe they’re getting forgetful and don’t always manage to eat regular meals. Perhaps they need dentures to be able to chew properly. These things can add up, which is why it’s important to start eating a proper diet when you’re young, so it has plenty of time to take effect.

What we eat affects every part of the body, and so does aging. The first impacts the second, and the second can cause problems with the first. Proper planning and eating a balanced diet when you’re young are some of the best anti-aging steps you can take.

The post The Foods Of Youth appeared first on Dr Asa Andrew.

There are some people who seem able to effortlessly maintain flawlessly smooth and hydrated skin. I’m not one of them, and most people are probably with me. So while we know there’s no magical solution to skin health and beauty, how can we give ourselves the best chance?

Well, most of what you need starts with your regular diet, which should be packed full of vitamins, minerals, protein and all the other things that keep skin full and bright. If, for some reason, your diet isn’t enough and you’re in need of a top-up, supplements are available. This may involve tablets or capsules that you consume, or it may include gels and creams that you can rub on your skin.

Vitamins A, C and E all play a role in skin health. B vitamins include powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatories that can have a big impact. You even need to think about DNA repair, which means minerals like zinc and magnesium. If you’re looking for a more general boost, you might try multivitamins. If there’s something specific you want to target, you may want to narrow your focus to one or two distinct supplements.

These supplements have to sit alongside the usual essentials of a skincare routine, like cleansing and moisturizing. You’ll also probably want to think about adjacent areas, like hair and nails. It’s all part of the bigger picture.

Your skin isn’t something separate from the rest of your body, and beauty isn’t necessarily at odds with health. Everything you do, from how you eat and your quality of sleep to how much you exercise and whether there’s any stress in your life, can all impact every part of your body, including your skin’s appearance and overall wellbeing.

This means that any approach to improving your skin has to be broad and open-minded. You need to tackle your overall lifestyle and not just hope for that one magic cure. As part of this process, however, the right supplements may be just what you need to provide the final extra touch.

The post Nourish Your Skin appeared first on Dr Asa Andrew.

Every country has its own standards when it comes to the “organic” label, but it generally means products grown as naturally as possible. That means crops grown without pesticides and animals farmed without hormones and antibiotics. It’s not just food; you can wear clothes made of organic cotton.

In 2017, the European Parliament put together a report about organic food and whether it benefited human health (https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/health-benefits-organic-food-farming-report/). They looked at lots of evidence from several different countries and made some interesting conclusions.

The most notable difference between organic and non-organic food is in the presence of pesticides. There’s some evidence that even trace amounts of pesticides in what we eat can affect brain development in children. This means trying to avoid pesticides can be particularly important to pregnant women, who may take reassurance from their absence in organic food.

Restrictions in antibiotic use in organic farming can also have wide-ranging health benefits for both animals and people. Overuse of antibiotics can lead to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which can spread from animal to human populations and are very difficult to treat or manage when they start causing illness.

There are also differences in nutrient levels between organic and non-organic food, though in some cases these variations are small. Some organic products have more of certain good compounds while having less cadmium. This metal is closely related to zinc, but unlike zinc, it doesn’t have any biological purpose in the human body and is considered toxic, causing damage to the lungs, bones and kidneys.

Health isn’t the only reason people seek out organic food, but it is certainly a factor. It’s good to know that there is scientific evidence that it can have health benefits, even if the extent of those benefits isn’t clear. If you are concerned about the long-term impacts of pesticide or antibiotic use, organic may be the way to go.

Choosing organic may also have an impact on the long-term wellbeing of the planet as a whole. Not only does it improve the life of farm animals, but it can also have a much wider impact on things like soil health, water quality and biodiversity while reducing the impact of farming on climate change. Organic farming generally claims to think more about long-term sustainability than it does immediate results, in sharp contrast to many modern industrial practices.

Scientific research into the impact of organic farming and food may still be limited, but there are promising signs. As organic continues to grow in popularity, it’s likely that even more studies into its effects, especially in the long term, will be carried out, and we will be able to make more definite conclusions about its benefits or disadvantages.

The post What’s The Science? appeared first on Dr Asa Andrew.

The most basic nutritional advice actually tends to remain the same. You need a balanced diet that contains a wide range of nutrients and where everything is consumed in moderation. There aren’t any foods that are outright banned or that if you just eat enough of them will have magical benefits. Too much of anything can cause harm, just as not enough of an essential nutrient can cause harm.

While these are the basic principles of a healthy diet, there are individual variations between every person. Genes and metabolism are things we can’t control that can have a pretty big impact on our nutritional requirements and how our body responds to what we eat.

Children have different requirements than adults when it comes to nutrition because they’re still growing. Professional athletes and those in jobs that involve a lot of manual labor are going to need to build more muscle than those of us who spend more time sitting behind a computer screen. There are lots of ways that your individual requirements may vary, in which case you may want to talk to a professional nutritionist about what’s best for you.

If you’re exercising a lot, you’re going to need energy, which generally comes from carbohydrates but can also come from fat. You need to eat before your session to make sure you have the fuel you need to get through it, and then again after your session (or during, if it’s on the longer side) to replenish your stores.

How effective carbohydrates are also depends on the type of carbs in question. Simple, sugary snacks can give a brief energy boost, but for a more long-term, sustainable source of energy, you need complex carbs like those found in bread and pasta, preferably from whole-grain sources rather than the more processed white stuff.

When it comes to growth and building muscle, especially if you have injuries that need repairing, it’s protein you need. This can come from meat, eggs, dairy products, or, if you’re a vegan or just like plant-based food, from beans, legumes, nuts and pulses. Proteins are made of amino acids, some of which can’t be produced by the body and need to come from your diet.

Then there are the vitamins and minerals that you get from all sorts of food, especially fruit and vegetables. Each one has its own role in different bodily processes. Everything from skin health and bone density to the immune system can be affected by vitamins and minerals.

Whole grains, fruit, vegetables, beans and pulses all also contain fiber, another essential nutrient with an important role in the digestive system and making sure food makes it through your body properly. The final main category of nutrient is water, something that needs constant replenishing if you don’t want to get dehydrated.

Nutrition isn’t a simple topic, but by adhering to some of its basic principles, you can ensure you have a balanced diet containing everything your body needs to work properly without overdoing any of it.

The post Keep It Balanced appeared first on Dr Asa Andrew.