Teenagers are not normally known to have superb eating habits. They always go for what they feel tastes nice or what they have access to at the time and this is not healthy.
Healthy eating does not necessarily involves all the foods that you like to eat. All that is needed is a proper balanced diet and reduced intake of foods that contain a lot of calories, sugar and fats. A lot of growth and development is occurring during the teenage, so the teenagers needed to take food that enhance all that. Here are some foods that teenagers should eat regularly to remain healthy.
1. Milk
For the people who are not suffering from lactose intolerance, milk is a great source of calcium and Vitamin D. The most important function of calcium is en-powering the bones. When teenagers get to a certain age, usually around 18-20, their bones stop growing in the length. Therefore it is necessary for teenagers to eat the food that contains a lot of calcium for proper bone growth. Vitamin D is needed for calcium to be absorbed in the digestive tract. There are other foods that contain calcium, but they usually contain some other substances that impair calcium absorption. Substances like the cigarettes, alcohol or high-calories beverages can also inhibit calcium absorption.
2. Leafy vegetables
Vegetables are the great source of nutrients like iron which is an important component of red blood cells. Red blood cells carry oxygen to all parts of the body, for the sake of energy production. Seeing as girls who have reached the age of puberty lose some iron through menstruation every month, it is important to replace it to prevent deficiency.
3. Nuts
Nuts like the pistachios and walnuts contain the saturated fats that are used to produce sex hormones in teenagers. This is important because sex hormones are needed for appearance of secondary sexual characteristics. However, it is important to control intake because saturated fats are not too healthy.
The teenage years can be a difficult time to navigate. Therefore, eating healthy might come under a host of other things, like school, socializing and sports, on their to-do lists. However, a healthy lifestyle, along with the proper diet and exercise may help to make everything bit easier.
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