Nutrition is a pillar of health and wellness. 

The foods you decide to put into your body are going to dictate, to a massive degree, how healthy you are in your life, how good you feel, and how gracefully you age. 

We live in a society that often doesn’t prioritize proper nutrition. 

People eat more processed, deep-fried, fatty foods than ever—and natural whole foods tend to be consumed less and less. 

In this post, we’re going to go over 3 basic tips for keeping your nutrition under control in your life. 

By following these tips, you can make serious headway in maximizing your health potential, feeling better, and performing at peak efficiency. 

Let’s dive into it. 

1. Cut Way Back On Refined Sugar

There are generally two types of sugar. 

There’s refined added sugar (this is basically what you’re eating when you eat something that has an ingredient label that says ‘sugar’ or ‘high fructose corn syrup’). 

And there is natural sugar (when you eat an apple, you’re consuming natural sugar). 

But here’s the thing. 

Added refined sugars tends to be pretty bad for your health. 

They increase your risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. But they are also linked to many other diseases and conditions as well. 

Some of these include liver disease, dementia, depression, and certain types of cancer. 

For best results, cut back on refined sugar, and consume more foods that don’t have ingredient labels on them, period (think carrots, meat, beans, fruits, legumes, etc.). 

2. Stop Drinking Sugary Drinks

In the western world, we consume huge amounts of soda, sugary energy drinks, and other ‘sugar/sweetener’ filled drinks. 

But these drinks play havoc with our bodies. And we would do very well to cut back on them. 

Most types of soda are filled with refined sugar. Drinking too much of it can lead to weight gain, cardiovascular conditions, diabetes, and more. 

The average American consumes far too much sugar as it is. And soda can contribute to this in a very negative way. 

For best results, opt for some water with a lemon in it, and save the ‘soda/energy drinks’ for one-off special occasions. 

3. Eat More Whole Foods

We’ve already touched on this a bit, but whole foods can offer tremendous health benefits, and help to mitigate many of the health risks posed by processed foods. 

Whole foods are basically minimally processed foods. Fruits, vegetables, and unprocessed meat are the types of foods that fit into this category. 

Instead of swinging through the drive-through to get a processed burger patty with a sugar-filled bun and french fries that are actually made from processed gluten products, consider cooking yourself some lean beef, eating some fresh-cooked vegetables on the side, and finishing the meal off with an apple, orange, or banana. 

Consuming more whole foods, and sticking to a minimally processed diet, has been shown to lower rates of heart disease, cut back on cancer risk, and even reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.