Maintaining a strict diet can be challenging, especially when it comes to avoiding certain foods or restricting calorie intake. While a healthy diet is essential for physical well-being, it is equally important to prioritize mental health and emotional well-being. The pressure to follow a strict diet can cause stress, anxiety and guilt, which can have negative effects on mental and emotional health. By giving yourself permission to indulge and not feeling guilty for indulging occasionally, it can help reduce stress and improve overall well-being.
Dr Aileen Cande, HOD, Nutrition and Dietetics, Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre, says, “In this contemporary world where obesity is an epidemic, everyone wants to stay healthy and fit. A common way that people seek to achieve this is by following a quick fix diet also known as a fad diet that will help them achieve their weight loss goals quickly. These highly restrictive unbalanced diets often cause side effects such as fatigue, weakness, constipation, headache due to insufficient intake of nutrients.
importance of food
In today’s fast-paced world, a sedentary lifestyle and inability to maintain a proper diet can lead to mental, emotional and physical distress. Good food, water, clothing and shelter are the essential elements required for a person to function properly. If there is a deficiency in any one of these elements, it can result in other areas as well, leading to significant discrepancies in one’s health.
“A person’s health is a reflection of his or her diet. Nutrients such as vitamins, calcium, and blood sugar levels, insulin, blood flow, muscle mass, and strength are all essential for proper brain and body function. It is an important aspect of mental health, and poor dietary habits can eventually lead to stress and depression,” says Rucha Shrikhande, psychologist (specialized in clinical psychology), Ruby Hall Clinic, Pune.
A diet rich in the nutrient can help reduce mood swings and improve the ability to concentrate. In childhood, a lack of proper nutrition can reduce energy and interest in learning, negatively impacting cognitive functioning and academic performance. It also affects physical growth, strength, flexibility, body height, weight and natural maturity.
Therefore, it is important to maintain a healthy diet from childhood through adulthood for optimal health and well-being.
body positivity and dieting
Weight is often seen as a health indicator on which people often judge themselves and those around them. This creates a toxic environment for overly health conscious people, making one feel as though they are not doing enough for their weight and how they are looked down upon by society. “It can make someone feel ashamed of their body, leading to emotional eating, low self-esteem and negative body image, among other psychological effects. It has to be understood that weight is not the only factor representing your metabolic and physical fitness status.” and therefore cannot be considered as the sole measure of health. Other factors such as BMI, body composition, energy level, sleep quality and gut health are also factors to be considered in determining good health,” Dr. Cande They say.
How to stay healthy mentally and physically by not following a diet
A common misconception about ‘dieting’ is that it is an overly restrictive pattern of eating, which is often difficult to maintain over the long term. “They usually promise rapid weight loss in a short amount of time—a quick fix for any modern man. These highly restrictive fad diets lead to high irritability, stress, anxiety, guilt, confusion, muscle loss, and eating disorders.” Causes mental and physical fatigue with symptoms such as the likelihood of developing. Dietary restriction, starvation, and a lack of fiber and protein often lead to cravings, which lead to a desire to overeat and therefore feelings of guilt. This is a vicious cycle. It becomes difficult to break. Most of these diets are based on misinformation and do not have a strong scientific basis. They are difficult to follow in the long term,” Dr. Kande says.
how to adopt healthy eating habits
A healthy lifestyle can be achieved by developing healthy eating habits, adequately hydrating, getting enough sleep, practicing conscious eating, managing stress, and exercising regularly.
A balanced diet should include all the food groups in the right amounts. Adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, whole grains and pulses such as lentils, chickpeas, milk and milk products, eggs, adequate hydration and mindful eating are essential pillars of a sustainable healthy diet.
Mindful eating is essential for good digestion, better receptivity of hunger and fullness signals, and providing mental satisfaction. Mindful eating involves engaging all of the senses by paying attention to the sounds, colors, smells, tastes and textures of food and how it feels while eating. Periodic pauses are recommended to engage these senses.
“It is more important to understand and accept your system with respect to your mental health and physical health. Everyone is unique and hence making an effort to understand your system is what makes you mentally, emotionally and physically healthy,” said Shrikhande Finished your talk.