Our diet affects every single aspect of our health and lives, from our skin to our mood to our sleep patterns. Trying to do a complete diet makeover can be overwhelming and we are not likely to stick to it. Introducing small changes can improve health without the stress. Before making dramatic changes to diet, it is important to see a doctor. Health insurance will generally cover an office visit to discuss how diet can improve your health, and you can then rest assured that you will not have issues with existing conditions or medications.

Drink Enough Water

Adequate hydration is extremely important to good health and well being. Drinking enough water will help your skin to stay healthy, will aid digestion, and will help you to feel full and satisfied sooner, which can be helpful in weight control. Hydration needs differ from person to person, so a doctor can help you determine your specific hydration needs if desired. Keeping a water bottle handy and keeping a filtration system at home can make it easy to drink enough water.

Eat Air Popped Popcorn As a Snack

Most snacks that are easy to store at room temperature are unhealthy and high in calories. Air popped popcorn has only about 31 calories and is high in antioxidants and fiber, however. If you sprinkle the popcorn with a little salt or nutritional yeast it will not raise the calorie count substantially and it will give the snack flavor. This makes air popped popcorn an easy snack to store and eat when hunger strikes.

Incorporate More Vegetables

When dietary changes are mentioned, the focus is often on cutting out favorite foods, which can get stressful. Instead of worrying about cutting foods out, it can sometimes be easier to shift the focus to including more foods that are healthy, particularly vegetables. Vegetables have many essential vitamins and nutrients, so eating more vegetables will more effectively improve health than cutting foods out. Filling up on vegetables will also fill you up, making it possible to cut back on unhealthy foods without thinking about it.

Increase Your Good Fats

The low fat diet has proven to be ineffective and even dangerous. Healthy fats are essential to good health and can help us to feel full faster. Healthy fats can be obtained from oils like olive oil and coconut oil. Avocados are also a good source of healthy fats. Unhealthy saturated fats, which are most commonly found in meats, dairy, and processed foods, should be limited or substituted with healthy fats whenever possible.