Eating healthy isn’t always easy, but committing to a healthy diet can be one of the smartest decisions you ever make. Why? Not only can eating well make you look and feel better, it can also save you money on future health costs.
But even if you intend to “eat healthy,” knowing exactly what that means can be challenging. “Following a healthy diet includes choosing plenty of lean meats, eggs, vegetables, fruit, whole grain and dairy products,” says Debra Nessel, a registered dietitian with Torrance Memorial Medical Center in Torrance, California.
Eating well also means leaving out or only rarely consuming foods that are high in added sugar, saturated fat and sodium. That includes most fast food, full-calorie sodas, processed snacks like chips and crackers, and anything with more milligrams of sodium than there are calories in a serving.