Making a delicious and nutritious lunch can be a somewhat exhaustive adventure if you don’t know the properties of food and the contributions it can give to your body, especially if you are looking to reduce your weight and keep or reduce your size.
In addition to a good diet, exercise and an active, non-sedentary lifestyle are essential to maintain your figure. Although some women choose to eat a vegan or vegetarian diet, this is not recommended if you are a person who loves the gym or exercise. That is why many nutritionists recommend a balanced diet, which should include both proteins from lean and white meats as well as carbohydrates and healthy fats, including fish, chicken, rice, pasta, grains, and vegetables such as avocado, broccoli and cauliflower, as well as dairy.
In this post, we bring you a recipe that you will love: Chicken Broccoli Rice. It’s an easy-to-make and very nutritious recipe that won’t take too much time to make it and will improve your health, and your physical and mental performance.
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How does diet influence a woman’s physical and mental performance?
Nutrition is one of the fundamental factors for physical exercise, since it involves an accumulation of energy, necessary for movement and, on the other hand, the regular practice of physical activity conditions all the qualitative and quantitative aspects of nutrition; therefore, it is a bidirectional relationship.
Many specialists conclude that a balanced diet should include specific foods such as those mentioned in the introduction of this post, in a proportional manner.
These proportions can be distributed according to the following regime:
- 55-60% Carbohydrates: they are essential for the functioning of brain activity, and excess carbohydrates (sugars) are converted into body fat. Some examples are rice, pasta, fruit, legumes, bread, cakes, chocolate.
- 20-30% of Fats: they are the lipids and their main missions are to obtain energy and to serve as a protector of the viscera. If there is an excess, as they are located around the heart, they can cause heart attacks. Some examples are butter, pork, olive oil, nuts and margarine.
- 15-20% Proteins: these are the main components of muscles and are made up of amino acids. Examples are beef, chicken, rabbit, eggs, cheese, tuna, milk, legumes, almonds, hazelnuts.
However, for those women who are in a special food regime due to health conditions, these proportions may vary.
What are the health benefits of these ingredients?
Chicken
Chicken is one of the healthiest meats you can find. It is a nutrient-dense food with an account for 20-22% in protein and for 3-10% in fat.
Also, eating chicken offers a large amount of minerals for your body such as iron, zinc, magnesium, selenium, cobalt, phosphorus, chromium, and vitamins A, B1, B3, B6, B12 and riboflavin.
Broccoli
Broccoli is high in vitamin C and dietary fiber; it also contains multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties, such as diindolylmethane and small amounts of selenium. Actually, a single serving can provide more than 30 mg of vitamin C and it is a food that improves the connection between neurons.
Its high content of iron, chlorophyll and folic acid, make broccoli a highly recommended food for people with iron deficiency anemia. Also during menopause its consumption is advisable since it contains phytoestrogens, with anti-estrogenic action similar to that of soybeans, which can alleviate the symptoms of menopause.
Rice
The low sodium content and the presence of potassium make rice a protector of the cardiovascular system, as it promotes the stability of blood pressure and helps to regulate the heart rate.
On the other hand, its generous fiber content helps to reduce the level of LDL cholesterol, as it absorbs the excess of these lipids and eliminates them through the intestine.
A nutritious Chicken Broccoli Rice recipe
Ingredients
- Chicken breasts (3/4 lb).
- Rice (1/2 lb).
- Broccoli (7 oz or 2/5 lb).
- Onion (3 ½ oz).
- Cooking cream (4 oz).
- Milk (2 ½ cup).
- Bread crumbs (1 ½ oz).
- Olive oil (2 liquid oz).
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 390 F (190° C). Cook the rice according to the instructions on the package.
- Peel and cut the broccoli into florets. Peel and chop the onion. Cut the chicken breasts into small cubes.
- In a pan with oil, brown the chicken, broccoli and onion. Add the cooking cream and milk. Finally add the rice and mix well.
- Pour the preparation in a gratin dish, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and bake for 20 minutes.
- Serve hot.