Take up a challenge for BNF Healthy Eating Week
It’s Healthy Eating Week, a campaign from the British Nutrition Foundation that encourages us to celebrate healthy living.
This year for Healthy Eating Week people are being encouraged to take up their five health challenges, which are all simple goals that can have a big impact on your wellbeing.
Here are all five challenges – are you tempted to give any a try? Let us know which one you’ve picked in the comments below!
Have Breakfast
Breakfast helps you start the day with your best foot forward by providing some of the energy and nutrients the body needs for good health, including starchy carbohydrates, fibre, B vitamins, calcium and iron and helping reduce your need to snack as the morning goes on. Some great breakfast ideas include:
- Breakfast cereal or muesli
- Toast with peanut butter or baked beans
- Two hard boiled eggs
- Plain yogurt
You can find more resources to help you take on this challenge here
Drink Plenty
Your body is made up of roughly 60% water. We lose it through our skin when we sweat, our lungs when we breathe and when we go to the toilet, and we need to stay hydrated to keep our bodies functioning at their best. You should be having 6-8 unsweetened drinks everyday – water is the ideal choice. Find the resources you need to take on this challenge here
Have 5 A Day
Fruit and veg provides a range of different vitamins and minerals, fibre and more that’s needed for good health and a functioning digestive system. A balanced diet with 5 a day helps lower the risk of everything from heart disease to stroke, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer. One portion is as simple as:
- One banana, apple or pear
- A handful of berries
- Three heaped tablespoons of vegetables
- 150ml glass of fresh juice or a fruit smoothie
You can find the resources you need to take on this challenge here
Get Active
Plenty of physical activity is a great foundation for health and wellbeing. It can help you feel energetic, improve your heart health, strengthen muscles, improve stress and lift your mood. It can be as simple as:
- Choosing the stairs over the elevator
- Walking to and from work
- A 30-minute walk or jog each day, walking your dog for 30 minutes
- 10,000 steps a day
Find the resources to help you take on this challenge here
Sleep Well
Good quality sleep helps support your health and make taking on the other challenges easier, too. Regular lack of sleep can affect your health, making you more vulnerable to colds and infections and is linked to serious health conditions such as obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes, and may also lead to depression and anxiety. Sleep is also important for cognitive skills such as communicating well, memory and creative thinking. Find more resources to help you sleep well here
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