There are foods and foods. It is extremely important for you to eat the right foods if not all the time, at least most of the time. This will ensure good health, which in turn will Contribute to a better personal and professional life.

The following common vegetables are highly nutritious you should eat them regularly:

spinach, carrots, tomatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, green beans, etc. All vegetables are nutritious some more than others. A mix of colours especially red and green is best.


Vegetables like peas, potatoes, yam, and pumpkin are also starches and can substitute cereals like rice, wheat, corn, etc. Similarly all fruits are very nutritious. Papayas, bananas, citrus fruits and apples are highly nutritious.



The notion that bananas, mangoes, grapes are fattening are incorrect. At about one calorie a gram, they may be nearly twice or more than some other fruits, but still less than half to one tenth of other foods.


Hence except for medical reasons such as diabetes, plenty of all fruits and vegetables are a good idea. Five portions a day, a portion being about one cup full, is the optimum quality.


Low fat dairy products, sprouts, and soya and kidney beans, whole pulses of various types are good vegetarian sources of protein. Similarly almonds and walnuts are very good for health and great sources of protein and could be eaten in small quantities 8-10 nuts daily.



Vegetarian diets tend to lack protein, hence one should make a conscious effort to include protein.

 

For a non-vegetarian diet good sources of protein are eggs, three times a week. Fish especially oily fish like salmon, makerel etc. a few times a week is excellent. The whites of eggs can be eaten.


A minimum consumption of red meats is recommended. White meat like chicken is a good source of protein, in a non-vegetarian diet.


Cereals are the other important food group. The best are whole wheat and multigrain breads and unpolished rice. Also corn, oats, and other whole grain preparations, potatoes with skin, and yam are healthful.


Foods like dairy products contain the amino acid tryptophan which helps release the chemical serotonin in the brain, which is the happiness chemical and the lack of which makes people insecure, depressed and aggressive.



Chocolates contain phenylethylamine a happiness stimulant similar to dopamine which is released during sex. Chocolates also contain methylxathmine and theobromine both similar in effect to caffeine, hence they also act as a booster similar to tea and coffee.

Eating excessive chillies can damage taste buds, reducing sensitivity of other tastes.