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The kinds of food we eat, how we eat it and when    it all makes a difference to how healthy we keep.

1. The quantity of food that you eat is as important as the quality. Eat enough food to satisfy your hunger and not as much as you can eat. Avoid overeating.

2. If you do a lot of hard, physical work, you need to eat a little more. But if your job is a sedentary one, where you don`t move around much, cut down on the quantity as your body consumes less energy.

3. During illness, cut down your food intake. This reduced load helps the digestive system to repair and reorganise itself. The toxins in the body can be flushed out easily.

4. Choose wholesome foods. A constant diet of processed foods would not give you the necessary energy and strength.

5. Use fresh foods. Seasonal and organically grown foods provide the best possible nutrients your body can have.

6. Eat freshly cooked foods as much as possible. Frozen and canned foodstuffs can never provide or promote good health.

7. Try to substitute regular sugar with brown sugar, jaggery or honey.

8. Never skip meals. Breakfast is considered the most important meal of the day. You could have a good breakfast and a light lunch. Dinner should be adequate and easy to digest. The body finds it difficult to digest certain kinds of food while we are sleeping. This could not only block the digestive system, but also cause nightmares.

9. Relax while you eat. Meals eaten in a stressful mood are more likely to produce toxins in the body. Negative emotions can cause the food to turn acidic in your digestive tract. No matter how busy you are, make it a point to make time to nourish your body.

10. Don`t go to bed immediately after a meal. Allow an hour or two between your dinner and bedtime. Go for a gentle walk or complete your chores around the house. Don`t indulge in energetic activity either. Give your body time to wind down.

Healthy eating habits not only give you more energy for the day, but they build up your immunity and keep diseases at bay.

Alamelu Gopalswamy