Nutrition and Hydration Week will take place from the 14th to the 20th of March in the UK. The event is aimed at promoting the benefits of good nutrition to people around the country so that we can all make efforts to improve our health and wellbeing.
There has never been a more important time to promote healthy eating and drinking habits than now! Approximately 3 million people in the UK do not receive enough nutrients from their diet which means that an increasing number of people are developing nutrition-based health conditions.
For people already living with long-term health conditions, eating a good diet is even more important! This is because your nutrition and hydration can play a huge role in how your illness manifests overtime as well as your likeliness of recovery.
How to achieve a good diet
Nutrition and Hydration week encourages people around the UK to look at their eating habits and make improvements. However, it can be tricky to improve your diet whilst living with a long-term health condition. This may be due to accessibility issues, financial limitations, or side effects of your illness.
If you’re in need of some inspiration, here’s how you can achieve a good diet whilst living with a long-term condition.
Use a meal delivery service
If your long-term condition causes you to struggle preparing healthy meals, you may want to consider using a meal delivery service. These services deliver fresh food straight to your door so that you can have a well-balanced meal every single day.
We offer daily meal deliveries for those who want to keep fit and healthy but struggle to fit cooking nutritious meals into their daily routine. All our meals use fresh ingredients that will provide you with the nutrients that you need. Similarly, meal delivery services for the elderly cater towards older people who may need an extra hand when it comes to eating well.
Prioritise your veggies!
Nutrition can be a tricky subject to wrap your head around. One easy way to make sure that you are getting all the nutrients that you need is to prioritise your fruit and veg at every meal.
The national recommendation is 5 portions of fruit and veg per day. Therefore, you should try to include at least one portion with each meal and perhaps even have a few healthy snacks in between. If you’re guilty of skipping your fruit and veg, consider eating dried fruits, smoothies or even veggie crisps! These are delicious alternatives that are great for people who are lacking fruit and veg in their diet.
Prepare in advance
If you live with a long-term health condition, some days may be better than others. This means that you may not always be up to cooking a full meal. Therefore, you should take advantage of your good days and prepare meals to be frozen for the days when you aren’t feeling so good.
Preparing nutritious meals in advance will prevent you from missing out on a good diet when you aren’t feeling up to cooking. Bulk cooking is also a great way to cut down your food bill and reduce food waste.
What are the benefits of having a good diet for long-term health conditions?
Eating a well-balanced diet is about far more than looking good on the outside! While eating healthy can help to maintain a healthy weight, good skin and healthy hair, a good diet can also help you to feel better internally.
Those with long-term health conditions will notice the difference between eating well and eating not-so-well. Depending on the condition that you have, your diet can play a huge role in how your symptoms manifest.
For example, people with diabetes will notice their symptoms getting worse if their diet contains too much sugar. Similarly, if you suffer with chronic pain eating poorly can cause further inflammation and further discomfort.
Eating well will help your body to fight off your condition and reduce your symptoms. As well as this, eating well will prevent further health conditions from developing that could cause even more problems in the future. Your body needs a good balance of nutrients in order to fight illness and prevent health conditions from developing.
Article written by our freelance writer Lily for Nutrition and Hydration Week 2022!