What is a Balanced Diet?
Eating a balanced diet means choosing a wide variety of foods and drinks from all the food groups. It also means eating certain things in moderation, namely saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, refined sugar, salt and alcohol. The goal is to take in nutrients you need for health at the recommended levels.
Two examples of a balanced eating pattern are the USDA Food Guide at MyPyramid.gov and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH Diet).
Both eating patterns emphasize fruits, vegetables and whole grains, as well as low or no-fat dairy products, and lean animal proteins. Fish is recommended at least two times per week, beans, nuts and seeds are encouraged, and unsaturated fats are always the fats of choice - like olive oil.
What About Calories?
Your balanced diet must be planned at your own calorie level, and portion size is key. You want to get the most nutrients for the calories by choosing food with a high-nutrient density. Nutrient-dense foods provide substantial amounts of vitamins and minerals and relatively few calories, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, lean meat and fish, and whole grains and beans. Low-nutrient dense foods have few vitamins but lots of calories, such as candy bars, soda, donuts and onion rings.
Sample Meals
A high nutrient-dense lunch would look something like this:
2 slices whole wheat bread
Deli turkey
1 slice roasted red pepper
romaine lettuce
1 tsp mayonnaise
baby carrots
hummus
8 oz non-fat milk
A low nutrient-dense lunch would look something like this:
One ground beef hamburger patty
Two hamburger buns
Iceberg lettuce
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 slice American cheese
Order of French fries, fried in peanut oil
Large regular soda
Candy bar
Know Thyself
What really matters, though, is knowing yourself. You need to make responsible eating choices within the context of your preferences and lifestyle. What are your goals? Which food groups do you like to eat? Which food groups are missing? Do you eat too much sugar, salt and fried food? Which foods are the contributors and what foods can you eat instead? The locus of control rests within you to design the best eating plan for you. Eating healthy takes planning and practice. Keep your balance.
A Differing Opinion
Nutrition guidelines recommend eating a wide variety of foods. But, there's a school of thought that eating variety of foods leads to overeating. There's "the tendency to stay hungry longer and eat more food when flavors are diverse and keep changing", according to Dr. David Katz, who maintains that we "fill up on fewer calories when flavor variety is controlled". You've seen this principle in action when you come home with a load of groceries. Don't you want to sample the wide variety of tasty foods?
A balanced diet and physical work out has a major role in attaining long healthy life. The increasing awareness of effects of foods on health has made us diet conscious and left us confused in the land of nutrition. We want to satisfy our palate and eat healthy as well. This often restricts our food choices.
The major nutrients for the body are protein, carbohydrate, and fat. These provide the body with energy for various functions like beating of heart, activity of muscles and brain. In addition the body needs vitamins, and minerals for it’s optimal functioning.
To get a balanced diet and nutrition it is important to choose foods from all food groups (cereals, pulses, poultry and meat, milk and milk products, fruits and vegetables share the bais of importance of diet plan). Eating a varied diet increases the chances that all your nutrient needs will be met, hence it is very important to take a balance diet. [Read: Balanced diet for Weight Loss]
The importance of balanced diet and nutrition are
Optimal macronutrient intake: Proteins, carbohydrates and fats are the macronutrients that your body needs. They are needed to maintain and regulate the body functions. Most people with average activity should get approximately 50 percent of their total daily calories from carbohydrate, 15 percent to 20 percent come from protein and 30 percent come from a fat source. People who are involved in endurance sports (e.g., long-distance biking or marathon running) should get 60 percent to 70 percent of their total daily calories from carbohydrates.
Total Micronutrients intake: Micronutrients are needed in small quantity but they are needed to maintain and regulate several body functions. Eating a varied diet increases the chances that all your micronutrient (vitamins and minerals) need, will be met. However as most children and youngster are not likely to eat a varied diet---daily multivitamin with mineral supplement may be appropriate. Before starting any supplement consult your doctor as even vitamin and mineral supplements can have side effects if the daily dose exceeds the recommended daily allowance. [Read: Balanced Diet plan for your Child]
Hydration — an important concern: Your body contains about 60-75 percent of water. Even though we do not realize water is an important component of proper nutrition. It is needed for several key functions like regulation of temperature, transport and absorption of nutrients, and elimination of waste products from the body. Feeling of thirst, dry mouth, tiredness, headache and dizziness indicate that you need fluids. If your fluid intake is not adequate it may lead to serious problems such as dehydration. Your fluid intake should be liberal to prevent dehydration—drink six to eight glasses of fluid every day. Fluids intake include not only water but all kinds of beverages, fruits and vegetable juices as well. But water is the best to prevent dehydration. It does not contain empty calories or caffeine. [Read: Balanced diet for Healthy Teeth]
Eat varied diet: A simple and effective way to make sure that you eat a balanced diet is eat foods from all the groups. Aim that every time you eat your plate contains;
1. 50 per cent vegetables (if possible of different kinds)
2. 25 per cent protein
3. 25 percent whole grain (like whole wheat bread, brown rice)