Healthy Nutrition and Diet Tips

Healthy Nutrition and Diet Tips from Dr. ATASOY

It is crucial for those who are overweight to pay close attention to the recommendations in the first 10 points, both for the success of their treatment and to prevent their illness from recurring. We recommend a healthy, balanced diet, an active lifestyle, and adequate quality sleep for all our patients to live a disease-free life.

1. The first point, which is as important as all nine points below, is a daily 40-minute brisk walk that will make you sweat. This walk, done regularly for three months, is the most effective way to break down insulin resistance if you have it. Remember, it is very difficult to lose weight without breaking your insulin resistance.

2. Eat two main meals a day. (Have breakfast before 10:00 AM when you feel hungry, and have dinner before 8:00 PM. Consider lunch as a snack. You can have a handful of hazelnuts (unroasted and unsalted), raw almonds, walnuts, or a salad made with fresh and healthy vegetables. Avoid anything sugary or white flour between two main meals.

Remember, after a 5-hour fast, you burn fat every minute you don't eat or drink anything that raises your blood sugar. (Although keeping lunch light may be difficult for the first few days, you'll be able to achieve it if you insist and want to). After 8:00 PM, eat nothing but water, unsweetened tea, or yogurt. Especially avoid fruit, fruit juice, or nuts after dinner.

3. Eat no more than one main course at dinner, other than soup and salad. Chew your food thoroughly (with each chew) to feel full while eating less. (This sends a signal to the brain's satiety center), have your meal prepared on a small plate (it helps your eyes feel full), and don't focus on anything other than what you're eating, such as watching television, and be mindful of what you're eating. I also recommend eating your daily fruit half an hour before dinner.

4. Never use sugar or sweeteners in your tea. (You'll experience the deliciousness of unsweetened tea in 15 days). If possible, also consume green tea and herbal teas that support your diet.

5. Avoid sugary, white-flour, and very salty foods. Eating 200 grams of fresh seasonal fruit daily is sufficient for sugary foods. Other sugary or sweetened beverages, chocolate, wafers, cakes, desserts, ice cream, or cookies are prohibited. Also, baked goods made from white flour, such as bread, pastries, pastries, muffins, and donuts, are strictly prohibited. Snacks like chips are prohibited.

6. 1-2 slices of organic whole-wheat sourdough bread at main meals. You can eat it (you can find it at the local bread market in Istanbul).

7. Avoid sweets like jam or halva for breakfast; only pure honey or dates can be eaten in small amounts. You can eat eggs, cheese, olives, and seasonal vegetables and greens, provided they are organic or natural. You can fry one or two eggs in real butter or olive oil.

8. Keep oils other than olive oil and real butter at home. Corn, sunflower, or hazelnut oils, contrary to popular belief, are not healthy in their commercial forms. Avoid frying as much as possible. You can fry a little with a small amount of olive oil over low heat without burning the oil once a week.

9. Half of your daily meals should consist of raw fruits, vegetables, and salad. The other half can be cooked. You can compensate for the lack of fresh vegetables during the winter months by consuming plenty of legumes. When they are in season, make sure you have a white cabbage salad on your table.

10. Avoid foods with a high glycemic index (white rice, pasta, ravioli, pasta). Choose bulgur instead of rice.

*Everyone can safely follow our recommendations, except those using insulin injections.

GENERAL NUTRITIONAL TIPS:
Avoid sauces (ketchup/mayonnaise) that contain additives. Be aware that packaged shelf-stable products can contain high levels of additives, so avoid them. Make your own sauces from healthy, fresh vegetables that are in season.

Buy all your fruits and vegetables from small, family-owned farms you trust, or find and use reliable organic products through people you know. Choose products that use truly natural methods, even if they are a bit expensive.

If you can find free-range chicken (from trusted sources), you can eat it once a week. Avoid industrial chicken (produced in 35 days). (If the chicken cooks in a pressure cooker for 2 hours and the broth becomes jelly-like, and the smell fills the entire house, it's likely natural.)

Eat fish frequently when it's in season (if possible, choose deep-water or non-farmed fish). Don't pan-fry the fish. Grill or bake. If you absolutely must fry, fry in a small amount of olive oil, making sure to change the oil every now and then.

Do not consume salami or sausages with additives. Ensure they are of high quality and produced healthily.

Sucuk, pastırma, or kavmak (roasted meat) can be consumed in small amounts. You can buy red meat from a trusted source once a week, and if possible, choose pasture-raised and naturally fed animals. (These days, since all animals are fed GMO feed, there's talk about the harmful effects of animal meat and animal products. Consuming meat from pasture-raised animals in moderation is beneficial.)

If possible, buy fresh milk (from a trusted farm or dairy) and make your own yogurt. Eat two bowls of homemade yogurt daily. You can increase the omega-3 content of your diet by adding 1 teaspoon of freshly ground flaxseed to your yogurt. Symptoms such as foul-smelling gas and stools are signs of dysbiosis (imbalanced intestinal flora). For a healthy intestinal flora, a few cloves of garlic can be eaten with yogurt for a while. Homemade apple cider vinegar and pickled white cabbage can help balance your flora in terms of beneficial bacteria.

The most important factor in preventing dysbiosis is completely eliminating refined sugars and sweeteners. Harmful bacteria and fungi in the intestines are fed by these sugars, and the numbers of harmful microorganisms increase proportionally compared to other beneficial bacteria. You can use a mixture of black pepper and turmeric as a spice in almost anything and benefit from its proven anticarcinogenic effects.

You can find products grown using traditional seeds, using natural fertilizers and pesticides, from trusted farms and at www.gelenekselpazar.com. For those seeking more detailed information on healthy eating, I recommend visiting www.gidahareketi.org and www.beslenmebulteni.com.

THOSE WHO WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT

Score the items you can implement daily, each worth 1 point, and record them in the table below. Aim for 8 or more out of 10 each day.

If you can achieve an average score of 8 by walking for 1 hour daily, you can lose 12 kilos in a healthy way in 3 months.

We recommend that our patients who want to turn this process into a full detox use high-quality nutritional supplements that have been tested for heavy metals, have not been heat-treated, and are free of synthetic chemicals and sweeteners.