Islam is a perfect religion and has presented comprehensive in-structions and guidelines for all aspects of our lives, including for healthy eating, here are some recommendations for you:

  Avoid eating when you are not hungry. Stop eating before you feel fed up.

 Try not to drink water while you are eating.

Avoid eating too much, since eating and drinking within limits is a must for your physical and spiritual health, as Imam Ali (AS) has pointed out: “Eating less adds to the value of one’s soul and also helps one’s bodily health.”  and “When Allah desires good for a servant of His, He makes him/her avoid talking a lot, avoid eating a lot and avoid sleeping a lot.”

 Try to benefit from various sources of nourishment. In Islam-ic medicine, this piece of advice is found, as we read in the Holy Qur’an (2: 172): “You who believe, eat any wholesome things We have provided you with, and thank God if it is He Whom you worship.”

 Washing the hands before eat-ing has also been recommended in Islam, as we read in a Hadith: “Wash your hands and do not wipe them before eating (also wash your hands after the meals and then wipe them).

  Do not look at the others’ in the face while eating. Instead, look at the food and remember God’s fa-vours in order to get the spiritual benefit, too.

Say Bismillah (In the Name of Allah) before and Al-Hamdullilah (All-praise is due to Allah) after eating.   Chew slowly and well for better digestion. Avoid haste while eat-ing. Imam al-Reza (AS) has been quoted as, “The time you spend for having meals will not be re-garded as part of your life-span (and so not deducted from your life-span)”.

Try to make mealtimes peace-ful and happy ones. Islam disap-proves of talking about annoying things, and/or doing such things while eating. Also, Islam advises against blowing into food or drinks for getting them cool,Healthy Eating

To stay healthy and maintain a healthy weight, we need to be physically active and eat the right amount of nutrients to balance the energy we use. A healthy diet can have a profound effect on our sense of mental and emotional wellbeing. Healthy eating is es-sential for good health, growth, and development. Healthful eating has many benefits for us. It can: stabilize our en-ergy, improve our minds, help us maintain a healthy weight, help prevent mental health conditions such as depres-sion, anxiety, and ADHD. Also, healthy eating can help pre-vent many chronic diseases, obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 dia-betes. Eating well supports your healthy growth and development into adulthood. It’s important to remember that nobody is born with a craving for French fries and pizza and an aversion to broc-coli and carrots. This conditioning happens over time as we are ex-posed to more and more unhealthy food choices. However, it is possi-ble to reprogram our food pref-erences so that to crave health-ier foods instead. Here are some tips for shaping positive eating behaviours:

  Limit sugar and refined carbs in your diet Your body gets all the sugar it needs from the naturally occur-ring con-stit- uents of food. Add-ed sugar just means a lot of empty calories that contribute to hyperactivity, mood dis-orders, and increase the risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes, and so on. Avoid sugary drinks. Instead,try adding a splash of fruit juice to sparkling water or blending whole milk with a banana or ber-cioussmoothie Find healthier junk food alternatives

Peer pressure and TV com-mercials for junk food can make getting you to eat well a real chal-lenge. Fast food is typically high in sugar, unhealthy fat, and cal-ories and low in nutrients. Still, junk food is tempting for every one of us, so instead of eliminat-ing it entirely, try to cut back on the times you eat fast food and, on the times that you do, make the healthiest choices possible.

Start with breakfast:

Eating a balanced breakfast with protein is a great way for your child to start their day. Pro-tein can help them stay fuller longer. It even can help teen-agers lose weight. Try one of these for a healthy, on-the-go breakfast: Egg sandwich on whole-wheat bread, Greek yo- gurt, Peanut butter on whole-grain toast, hard-boiled eggs, toast, and an apple.

Eat a variety of foods: Eating a variety of foods keeps our meals interesting and flavorful. It’s also the key to a healthy and balanced diet because each food has a unique mix of nutrients. Fill-ing half of our plate with colorful vegetables and fruits (and choos-ing them as snacks), split the oth-er half between whole grains and healthy protein. Enjoy a wide va-riety of foods from these 5 food groups: 1- fruit, 2- vegetables, legumes, and beans, 3- cereals (including bread, rice, pasta, and noodles), preferably wholegrain, 4- lean meat, fish, poultry and/or alternatives, 5- milk, yoghurt, cheeses and/or alternatives. Healthy eating from the 5 food groups (above) is essential for all children.

  Remember that fat is a nec-essary part of our diet. What matters most is the type of fat we eat. We should regular-ly choose foods with healthy unsaturated fats (such as fish, nuts, seeds, and healthy oils from plants), limit foods high in saturated fat (especially red meat), and avoid unhealthy trans fats (from partially hy-drogenated oils).

Water should be the drink of choice with every meal and snack, as well as when we are active.

 Water is the best choice for quenching our thirst. It’s also sugar-free, and as easy to find as the nearest tap.

 Limit juice - which can have as much sugar - to one small glass per day, and avoid sugary drinks like fruit drinks and sports drinks, which provide a lot of calories and virtually no other nutrients. Over time, drinking sugary drinks can lead to weight gain and increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other problems. It’s OK to eat small amounts of discretionary foods now and then as part of a balanced diet. But you should try to limit these foods in your daily diet since they can lead to becom-ing overweight or developing diseases in later life. Exam-ples of foods to limit are sweet biscuits, cakes and desserts, processed meats and sausages, ice-cream, confectionery and chocolate, meat pies and oth-er pastries, commercial burg-ers, pizza, hot chips, and fried foods, crisps and other fatty and/or salty snacks, cream and butter, sugar-sweetened cor-dials and soft drinks.

In conclusion, healthy eating in childhood means one will have less chance of developing chron-ic diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and some cancers. It will also mean she/he feel better, look better and enjoy life more.

Healthy eating habits are more likely to stay with you if you learn them as a child.

 BY :Mortaza Afradian