Healthy Meal Ideas

Submitted by Loring A. Windblad on June 2, 2010

Healthy meal ideas form an integral part of healthy lifestyle tips, as the key to a healthy lifestyle lies in what we eat. When we feed ourselves well, we are ensuring our good health. But what is a healthy meal? A healthy meal refers to the type of meal that satisfies your hunger adequately. At the same time, this meal should provide your body with a balance of vitamins and minerals that are essential for various body functions and for the maintenance of good health.

Your meal should be such that you feel energized and active after you have digested your food. An example of a typical healthy meal is given below. A healthy meal must contain its share of fruits and vegetables.

Consuming an apple during a meal can provide you with vitamins and dietary fiber as the apple skin is extremely good for roughage. You can possibly have just half an apple during a particular meal as you want to save some space for other foods that you are consuming.

Healthy Lifestyle Diet: Vegetables contain fiber as well and are rich sources of vitamins and minerals. You can therefore have the second part of your meal dedicated to a small salad.

A salad that has a few leafy green vegetables mixed with a variety of other vegetables can be tasty and healthy. You can try and olive oil based dressing which will contain no saturated fats in it. Choose your vegetables based on their color.

Different colored vegetables will contain various different vitamins and minerals.

Healthy Meal Ideas: A small serving of lean meat can be the centerpiece of your meal. Lean meat provides the body with protein which helps to maintain body mass and build muscle. Meat may also contain some iron which is useful for the blood. You should avoid fatty meats or fat parts of a piece of meat. Bacon, for example is a fatty meat that also contains a lot of sodium and is not recommended for a healthy diet. One can occasionally replace the meat with fish in the meal. A serving of fish can provide your body with some omega fatty acids which are anti inflammatory and are generally considered to be good for health. You can finish your meal off with a low fat dessert which is essentially something that you can allow yourself if you are eating healthy. Remember to always drink enough water as this is vital for digestion and other body processes such as removal of toxins through urine.