You don't have to have a degree in a medical field to understand the ABC's of nutrition. In fact, to live a healthy life that includes a diet that gives you the good foods you need to sustain health and resist disease, you don't even have to count vitamins or understand what each vitamin does or why it is good for you. By just including some common sense diet guidelines in your weekly meal planning, you can satisfy the ABC's of Nutrition and enjoy your meals as well.



It is an urban myth that you will eat foods that don't taste good if you want to eat in a healthy way. There are hundreds of good recipes for vegetable dishes and healthy main meals that cut down on the fat in your diet and introduce vegetables and fruits that are rich with vitamins and minerals that you need to stay healthy and to live well. Poor nutrition can have a much worse effect than just making you get fat. If you do not supply your body with the weapons it needs to fight disease and sustain health, you feel bad which means you sleep poorly and you are less effective at work or play during your waking hours.

So it pays to follow some very basic rules of nutrition that will serve you well in every aspect of life. These ABC's of nutrition can be broken down into a few simple guidelines including...

1. Include items for the four major food groups in every day's diet.

2. Take a multiple vitamin every day.

3. Eat less but more often.

4. Eat fresh foods.

There are other more specific guidelines to follow but these very basic ABC's of nutrition, if you live by them, will keep you healthy as well as any flu shot will and you will feel the results in more energy, more vigor about all aspects of life and because you simply feel better each and every day of your life.

The four food groups are foundation concepts of the ABC's of nutrition because by observing the simple rule of including items from each group in your diet every day, you will satisfy your nutritional needs each day. It might seem odd to recommend a multiple vitamin each day with our cultural emphasis on natural foods. But your doctor will tell you that a including a vitamin in your daily nutrition program assures that your body will have the nutrition needs when it needs it.

How often you eat and the emphasis on fresh foods is just another way to make sure your diet is balanced to how your digestive system works. We all digest fresh fruits and vegetables much better than processed foods and those foods are high in nutritional value. By keeping these very basic ABCs of nutrition in your diet program each day, you will see your general health improve, the occurrence of illness drop off dramatically and you will feel better and have more fun every day too. All of those are outstanding goals that result from any program of health and diet common sense.