How Healthy Eating Impacts Sleep and 10 Tips To Get You Started

We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again: what and how you eat definitely impacts how you feel — and how you sleep. But “eating healthy”... what does it really mean? We all know we should eat more veggies and cut back on processed foods, but it’s easy to get lost in all the “info” out there. We want to help make eating better easy and accessible. And to do that, we’re sharing our best tips, tricks and resources to help you plan healthy meals on your busy schedule. 

What exactly is “healthy eating”?

Healthy eating, at its core, is about eating a balance of all the food groups to help you get the vitamins, nutrients and calories needed to maintain a healthy body. Canada’s food guide recommends that half of your meals are made up of fruits and veggies, with the other half broken into proteins and grains. 

After all, our bodies need veggies, fruit, grain, proteins, vitamins and water to function properly. It’s when our bodies don’t get what it needs that issues can come up. 

3 misconceptions about healthy eating

The term “healthy eating” and “being healthy” has been used in a lot of different ways over the years. Health and food has been a complex relationship for many people — especially women in a lot of cases. Here’s some of the top misconceptions about what it means to eat healthy.

1. You need 8 glasses of water a day

Drinking water is important and water should be your top beverage of choice. But your body will need more or less than 8 glasses depending on how you’re spending your day. You should drink water when you’re thirsty. 

2. You can never eat “junk” food or sugar if you want to be healthy.

While highly processed foods and sugar should not be a regular part of your meals, treats will not derail your entire health. The challenge with these foods is that processed foods are highly addictive because of all the sugar in them. It’s easy to slowly let them become an every-day or every-meal thing. That is when they can become a problem. Some look at it as the 80:20 rule; 80% of your meals should be “healthy” while the other 20 can be “freedom foods”. The big message here is balance. 

An easy way to cut out access sugar from your days is to look at your condiments and sauce. These meal add-ons can be really big for refined and processed sugars. Try making your own dips and sauces at home or swap out for healthier options like hummus, tzatziki, salsa, mustard and kimchi.

3. Eating carbs is bad.

This misconception comes from a lot of fad diets about cutting out all carbs — or grains — from your diet. Eating carbs is not bad. In fact, carbohydrates can be found in many health-branded foods like beans, milk… even quinoa. People with certain dietary restrictions may need to cut out gluten or other grain-related things but eating bread is not bad in itself. 

Healthy eating and sleep

We’ve talked before about some foods that can help you improve your sleep quality like nuts, grapes, apples, bananas, kiwis and salmon. But more so than eating a few pro-sleep foods, updating your general eating habits to be healthier will do you and your sleep a world of good.

Healthier foods — and by that we mean veggies, fruits, dairy, whole grains and low-refined sugar foods and drinks — contain higher levels of fibre, vitamin B, proteins, and healthy fats than their more processed counterparts. When our bodies have all the nutrients they need to function properly, our brains, guts and hormones all work as they should. Because sleep is so impacted by every part of our nervous system, one thing being off kilter can throw our sleep out of whack. 

Eating healthy also fuels us to feel more energized and well balanced as a whole. Getting outside, having hobbies you love, exercising, laughing and enjoying your days helps you destress and expend that energy that can otherwise keep you up at night. 

Healthy eating and sleep go hand in hand, just like the other aspects of a healthy lifestyle. 

10 tips to eat more healthy

Changing your diet can be daunting, especially if healthy eating isn’t something you think about often. We’ve got news for you: Changing your diet can be super easy! These 10 tips can help you eat more healthily, all without the stress.

1. Spice up your current favourite meals

Eating more healthy doesn’t mean you have to throw out the recipes for your favourite foods. But, you can modify those recipes to give them an extra health kick. Adding in extra veggies, for example, is a great way to boost your go-to meals. Pasta is an awesome comfort food. Adding green peppers, mushrooms, onions and carrots to your sauce does little to change the flavour of the sauce, but it gives it a good punch! Maybe swap to a different, more low-sugar sauce. Or maybe you use quinoa instead of rice for your bowls.

Think for a second now: What is your go-to busy meal? How can you health-it-up?

2. Swap to whole grain breads and pasta

White flour is processed in a way where only a small part of the wheat grain is used. Whole wheat flour (and whole wheat grain products like pasta, bread, crackers, etc) are processed to use more of the raw grain. This means that whole wheat products have more fibre, vitamins, magnesium, zinc, and other good nutrients in them. Swapping your grain products to something whole wheat is another easy health change you can make that can up your nutrient game. 

3. Bake it good

Pan frying can be a go-to when cooking, but how you cook your food is a big player in the health of your meals. Frying often means you’re cooking it in oil of some sort. Baking can usually be done without oils, eliminating that added fat to your foods. 

If you are going to fry or want to use an oil, use extra virgin olive oil instead of any vegetable oils. The olives have plenty of great minerals and antioxidants in it that make it healthier for  cooking. 

4. Swap for water

Juice, pop and fizzy drinks taste good. We don’t question that. But we’d challenge you to try reaching for a glass of water instead of another option for your sleep’s sake. Try it for one day a week then up it to two and then more. This really easy swap can make a big difference on your overall health. Hydration is so important to your overall health and wellness, from skin and hair to digestion and — you guessed it! — sleep. 

Really love carbonation? Fizzy and sparkling water is a great alternative for pop for people who love the bubbles. They don’t have the sugar and the carbonation isn’t bad for you so it’s a perfect alternative.

5. Meal plan

One of the biggest challenges to healthy eating is time. After a busy day at work, it’s easy to order in, pick something up or in something processed. Meal planning takes out a lot of the guesswork of eating and makes healthy choices easy. Meal planning is about pre-planning your meals, and even cooking and portioning out food in advance so you can grab a meal whenever you need it. 

You can spend a Sunday or evening one day a week preparing meals. Meal planning doesn’t need to be really complicated or challenging, either. Roasting a bunch of veggies, pre-cooking chicken, batch-preparing quinoa or simmering up a big pot of soup can all help to make week day dinners easy (and healthy).

6. Watch your portions

Food is good. We love to eat. Eating healthy, though, isn’t just about what you eat but also about how much you eat. Many healthy foods can become not-so-healthy if you overeat. This is the case with grains, oils, and high fat foods like avocados, fish and peanut butter. These foods are delish and good for you – but in the recommended doses. Overeating can cause weight gain, impact your huger regulators, increase risks of certain heart diseases, cause gas and bloating and be generally uncomfortable. 

You can overeat on fruits and vegetables too, but only about 30% of Canadians are eating enough in a day. So, we encourage you to eat as much fruit and veg as you want.

If you’re curious about the recommended portion for food, nutrition labels often have them. 

7. Grocery shop when you’re full

There’s nothing like walking into a grocery store when you’re snacky. Reuters references a study that showed people are more likely to choose high-caloric foods when they’re hungry. So, even if you have a list, it’s better to go grocery shopping after dinner, or to at least chomp on an apple before you go. 

If your kitchen is full of fruits and veggies, it’s easier to make healthy choices. 

8. Shop the outer edges of the store as much as possible.

Have you ever noticed that the perimeter of a grocery store contains all the food groups? Veggies, fruits, fish, meat, dairy and grains all live on the outer walls. The inner shelves are what hold the sauces, packages and processed foods. We would never tell you to never visit that section (afterall, sauces, dips, condiments, soups, beans, etc are all delish) but it’s always a good idea to try to stock up on fresh food as much as possible. 

We’d like to note here that frozen veggies, fish and meat are great options that can be cheaper. Frozen fruit is a great way to enjoy your favourite snacks off-season too. 

9. Cook and have fun doing it

Cooking is an immediate way to boost the health of your meals — and save you money. Take out food is easy, but has way more sugar, sodium (salt) and fats cooked right into the food. Plus, with the rising costs of take out, your budget will thank you too.

Cooking also ensures you’re eating as much fresh food as possible. The more your meal looks like something taken from a farm when you start, the better. 

10. Quick replacements for healthy snacks

Remember that stat from above? Only 30% of Canadians eat enough fruits and veggies. Because of this, try to make your afternoon and late night snacks veggie (and fruit)-centric. Grapes, cucumber slices, apples, peppers and cherry tomatoes are all easy snack items that you can have on hand in the fridge. Try swapping your chips and popcorn for veggies and fruits 3X a week and see how it does. We think you’ll be surprised with how you feel. 

Healthy foods, sleep and you

Eating healthy is a buzz topic that can be super intimidating. Hopefully these tips help you feel more excited about the quick and easy changes you can make that will improve your overall health. If eating healthy is a new concept to you, then you’re taking the first step and we’re happy you’re here! Canada’s food guide has plenty of resources to help you learn how to eat and cook healthy meals for you and your family.

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