Behold! I bring you these 10 nutritional commandments from mountain of good life: these are daily guides to help you make healthy decisions to achieve a healthy life.

1. YOU SHALL NOT SKIP YOUR BREAKFAST

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day as it provides the body with sufficient energy to kick start the day after a long night fast. Skipping breakfast is an unhealthy practice as you may get so hungry, increasing your cravings for snacks that are high-fat and high-sugar foods which also increases your weight later in life.
Eating breakfast fuels your brain with sufficient energy to function and keep you attentive. Breakfast should be a key component in the daily meals of individuals who want to lose or maintain healthy weight as it helps keep your appetite in check preventing overeating and snacking on high fat and sugary foods, which are factors to excessive weight gain. Among diabetic and hypertensive patients, eating a high-fiber breakfast helps control their blood sugar and blood pressure. Breakfast is usually eaten between the hours of 6 to 8 am. Some Ghanaian breakfast meals you can consider for the morning depending on your activity level includes;

☆Corn dough porridge (boiled corn dough paste) with buff loaf (popularly called bofroat)

☆Millet porridge (Hausa koko) with koose

☆Oatmeal or wheat porridge or rice water (boiled rice with lots of water) or tom brown (milled roasted corn and groundnut) accompanied by bread and cut vegetables sandwich into them. To give it a great taste, sugar, milk or groundnut can be added to these porridges.

☆Waakye (a mixture of boiled rice and beans) with fish/meat or beans and fried ripe plantain is another option.

2. YOU SHALL NOT LIVE SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE

Living a sedentary lifestyle is a lifestyle with little or no physical activity and such individuals often sit or lie down while engaging in activities. Living a sedentary lifestyle also has many health-related consequences such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, some types of cancers, heart diseases, and even early death.
Averagely, adults are to engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each week which is usually broken down into equal 30 minutes for at least 5 days. You can also engage in some activities like sweeping, washing, cleaning and so on at home. Engaging in physical activities such as running, cycling, swimming, brisk walking, and jogging helps regulate your blood sugar levels, blood pressure, burn down some fats and also reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart diseases and stroke.

3. YOU SHALL NOT HINDER YOUR DAILY MEALS FROM FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Depriving your body of fruits and vegetables is equivalent to depriving your body of the soldiers that help fight some infections and diseases. Fruits and vegetables should be an important part of your daily diet because they do not only make your meals colorful but also provide your body with vitamins and minerals which helps boost your immunity (protection) against some infections and diseases. Fruits can be eaten as mid-morning snack at 10am and mid-afternoon snack (3pm). You are required to eat two servings of fruits per day which can be translated as two fingers of banana, or one medium size apple or orange, or a wedge of watermelon. Vegetables on the other hand can also be eaten as a whole meal as in salads or as an accompaniment in stews and soups. 3 to 5 servings of vegetables each day meets the daily requirement and that represents 6 stew ladles of raw salad vegetables and 3 stew ladles of cooked vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are good source of dietary fiber and eating them as part of a well-balanced, regular diet and a healthy, active lifestyle helps you to reduce and maintain a healthy weight, control your cholesterol levels and blood pressure.

4. YOU SHALL NOT TAKE THE DIETARY ADVICE OF YOUR DIETITIAN IN VAIN

Dietitians are qualified nutrition experts that provide education and counsel clients based on their nutritional and health status. They also provide dietary advice to their clients considering their individual preferences, economic status, religious and ethnic beliefs, geographical location, availability and accessibility to food. This involves the consent of the client not imposing dietary regimens on them. Dietitians do not reduce the quantity of foods to be eaten as claimed by some individuals but rather they alter the composition of diet to help you achieve a healthy life. I encourage clients to adhere to all dietary regimen offered to them by their dietitians and also to consult a dietitian if you have any nutrition-related problem or question.

5. REMEMBER THE APPROPRIATE MEAL TIMES AND KEEP IT HOLY

Eating within the consistent meal times is a healthy practice which helps prevent sudden hunger, and keeps the body with adequate energy throughout the day. Breakfast which is the first meal of the day is usually eaten between the hours of 6 to 8 am followed by lunch, the noon meal also at 12 -1 pm. Supper which is the last meal of the day can be eaten before 6:30pm.

6. HONOUR THE WORDS OF YOUR DIETITIAN  AND HIS DIET PLANS THAT YOUR DAYS MAY BE LONG IN HOOD HEALTH

Honoring the words of a dietitian is by observing the dietary and the lifestyle advice your dietitian gives you. Dietitians also offer their client diet plans which serves as a guide to healthy eating as they provide you with sample meals to consider within the healthy meal times. Diet plans also guides you to make healthy food choices aside the sample meals stated. Honoring the dietitian’s diet plan is by following it as it also would help you achieve your set aim or goal which maybe reducing or maintaining your weight, lowering your cholesterol levels, lowering your blood sugar levels and lowering your blood pressure.

7. YOU SHOULD NOT USE THE SAME CHOPPING BOARD OR KNIFE FOR BOTH RAW FOODS AND READY TO EAT FOODS

When cooking, you need to use a different chopping board and knife for raw foods like meat and fishes and also a different one for ready-to-eat foods like bread, vegetables and fruits to prevent cross contamination. Most raw foods are easily contaminated and its contaminants can be transferred unto other foods if you use only one chopping board or knife for both raw and ready-to-eat foods without a thorough cleaning of these equipment. To prevent this, kindly use different chopping board or knife for both raw foods and ready-to-eat foods.

8. YOU SHOULD KEEP YOUR BODY DEHYDRATED

The feel of thirst, dark yellow urine, headache, dry skin, and dry or sticky mouth are some symptoms of dehydration. Although your body loses water every day through tears, saliva (spit), sweating, breathing, “peeing, and pooping”, it is not healthy to keep your body dehydrated. Averagely, an adult is supposed to drink about 2 to 3 liters of water per day which is also equivalent to 4 to 6 sachets of water. Keeping your body hydrated improves your sleep quality, regulates your body temperature thereby preventing sudden headaches, and keeps your skin supple. Always avoid caffeinated drinks like energy drinks and coffee to stay hydrated.

9. YOU SHALL NIT TAKE ALCOHOL BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER MEALS

Drinking alcohol before, during and after meals is not a healthy practice because it has a long-term effect on your health. Chronic consumption of alcohol before, during and after meals can damage your internal organs like the liver, kidney, and heart. Drinking alcohol before meals is not a healthy regimen to boost your appetite. You can consider some cut or juiced fruits 30 to 45 minutes before a meal as a way to increase your appetite. You can also consider another variety of cut or juiced fruit as dessert, 45 minutes to an hour after eating.

10. YOUR SHALL NOT COVET YOUR NEIGHBOR’S HIGH FATTY, SALTY OR SUGARY FOODS, NOR ANY FOOD THAT LACKS DIETARY FIBER THAT IS YOUR NEIGHBORS

Most at times we are tempted by the aroma, taste, and garnishing looks of foods when we attend parties or visit our neighbors leaving us with an option coveting their high fatty, salty or sugary foods, and any food that lacks dietary fiber. Frequent consumption of high fatty, salty or sugary foods has the tendency of increasing your weight above the healthy limit and also increasing your risk of developing chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, some types of cancers and stroke. Foods that lack fiber cannot also help control your blood sugar, blood pressure and your cholesterol levels.

Thank you for making time to read this article. You can forward all your questions and article request to info@thesistersshow.com and our Dietitian will answer them as soon as possible.