Eat Well, Live Well: Nutrition & Balance

The close of one year and the beginning of another often sees many of us setting New Year resolutions to better ourselves and the world around us. However, unreachable goals and unrealistic expectations cause so many to go uncompleted every year and, with the year we’ve just had, we don’t need resolutions letting us down too!

At Eversfield Organic, we believe that small changes can make a big difference to the kind of life we live. It’s no secret that we’re big supporters of food being the source of life’s enjoyment – we aren’t joking when we say enjoy food, enjoy life.

With this in mind, we’ve complied a few simple changes you can make to your daily lifestyle to benefit both yourself and your surroundings this New Year. Our Eat Well, Live Well four-part blog series starts with the basics; nutrition and balance.

Better Living Starts with Your Plate

Amongst busy work schedules and hectic social lives (thanks Zoom, but we’re hoping for less virtual and more “real-life” interaction this year!) it can sometimes be hard to remember to take care of what we put into our bodies. Improving our overall health and well-being is rooted at a balanced diet, jam packed with nutrients and boasting a variety of flavours and colours.

For some of us, it may have been a while since we were lectured at school about getting in our greens. But today the abundance of news sources, from Twitter to The Times, can make it confusing to stay on top of what’s hot and what’s not. By bringing it back to the basic nutrition facts and making small changes, the path to ultimate health and well-being is paved slightly easier.

Getting a varied diet across the 5 main food groups of vegetables, fruits, grains, protein and dairy doesn’t have to be boring. The first secret we’re dying to share is to try and create the rainbow with every meal, from cherry red tomatoes to crunchy green lettuce leaves. We’re continuing to work hard here at Eversfield Organic towards producing our own organic fruit and veggies in our newly instated market garden to make this simple change even simpler. Whilst we continue to grow our garden, why not take a look at our lovingly pre-picked veg boxes? Adding just one box to your weekly, or even monthly, intake is an easy way to get more greens (and reds and purples and oranges, too!) onto your plate.

Other small changes such as incorporating some organic basics into your eating habits or even just drinking more water from day to day are also sure ways to feel the benefits of a balanced diet. The first is always the hardest, but once you start we bet you won’t be able to stop.

Level-up Your Living

The next step in levelling up your New Year’s eat well, live well ethos is to take the plunge and shop organic. Organically produced products minimise the amount of toxins going into your body as organic food is produced without the use of artificial pesticides, herbicides or nitrates. Whilst synthetic fertilisers are considered safe in the moderate quantities used in traditional farming, there are still concerns about the damage of consuming such chemicals continually. Organic products gives you the option to reduce the intake of the nasty ingredients on mass produced goods, even if you only make the switch once or twice a week.

In addition to minimising those unpleasant toxins, organic foods also hold a wealth of natural nutrients, too. Evidence shows organic produce is rich in nutrients such as vitamin C, iron, magnesium and phosphorus, especially in organically grown fruits, vegetables and grains. Certain types of organic fruit and veg is also thought to hold higher amounts of antioxidants too – perfect for kick starting a New Year’s detox and boosting your (potential) lockdown mood!

And it’s not all about the greens and grains, either. Organic dairy and meat can have around 50% more omega-3 fatty acids – a healthier unsaturated fat produced from the high levels of grass-feeding cattle amongst organic farmers (but more on this in a few weeks!).

Not only does shopping organic for a balanced, nutrient rich diet benefit human health, but organic farming also begins to reverse the damage that traditional farming has inflicted upon the environment. Find out more about how this works in the next instalment of our Eat Well, Live Well blogposts coming soon!