Since childhood, we are taught that What is a Balanced Diet Answer is all we need to keep ourselves healthy. It’s taught to us in schools and preached much by experts. But what really is a balanced diet? Why do we need it? Why is it Important? and what will happen if we don’t make it a part of our lifestyle?
What is Balanced Diet Answer?
Content
A balanced diet is a diet that consists of the right mix of food in a good quantity. The portions of a balanced diet are specified to fulfill the requirements for minerals, calories, proteins, vitamins, and alternative nutrients.
In addition, a balanced diet must provide bio-active phytochemicals like antioxidants, dietary fiber, and nutrients that have positive health benefits.
A balanced diet should be composed of:
- 60-70% total calories from carbohydrates
- 10-12% from proteins
- 20-25% total calories from fat
A balanced diet works best when aligned with a regular workout routine. It can aid in reducing risks for obesity or weight gain. A balanced diet can help a person lose weight if:
- It increases protein intake
- Get essential nutrients, minerals, vitamins, etc
- Avoid excess carbohydrates
- Prevent overeating
Importance of a balanced diet for the body:
- Healthy eating habits increase energy levels in the body
- It strengthens the immune system
- Prevents weight gain
- Prevents the risk of diseases like obesity, cancer, heart diseases, etc.
Balanced Diet Composition:
A well-composed balanced diet will mostly include the following things:
- Minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants
- Starch and fiber in carbohydrates
- Healthy fats
- proteins
A balanced diet will include a variety of foods from the following groups:
- fruits
- vegetables
- grains
- dairy
- protein foods
GUIDELINES TO A BALANCED DIET
- An important rule of healthy eating avoids skipping any meal. Skipping meals decreases your metabolic rate. Normal eating includes 3 major meals and 2 snacks between meals. Also, Never skip breakfast. It is the foremost beneficial meal of the day.
- Learn easy-to-apply ways to prepare food. Healthy eating doesn’t have to mean difficult to prepare eating meals. Keep meal preparation simple, eat more raw foods such as salads, fruits, and vegetable juices, and focus on the benefits of eating healthy food rather than the calories.
- It is important to not overeat after you feel full. This will aid you in maintaining your weight to an extent. This also will aid you to remain alert and feeling your best with lots of energy.
- Stay hydrated. Drink lots of water. Keep a bottle of water near you while working, studying, watching TV, etc.
- A variety of foods should be used in the preparation of meals. No single food has all the nutrients and vitamins.
- To improve the cereal and pulse protein quality, the least of the quantity of cereal protein to pulse protein should be 4:1. In terms of the grains, it will be eight parts of cereals and a single part of pulses.
- Eat as much as five portions of fruit and vegetables every single day.
- Keep a tiffin of healthy snacks to hand while traveling, or staying away from healthy options in the market. This will stop you from eating an unhealthy snack when hungry, the ones easily available.
- Avoid all visible fat from food before you cook it – take the skin off chicken and trim the white fat off any meat, unnecessary oils, etc.
- Avoid excess stimulants such as alcohol, caffeine from tea and coffee, and refined sugar.
- Immediately decrease the number of times you eat out to once a week. Take your own homemade packed lunch to work.
- Only eat things you like the taste of, there is no point in making the journey difficult – find what works for you and don’t force yourself to eat things just because they’re healthy for you.
Conclusion
Healthy eating has many health benefits, like reducing the risk of heart disease, cancer, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. It can also energize a person’s mood and provide them with more energy.
A balanced diet helps in preventing health issues in kids like stunting, wasting, and deformities. A balanced diet needs to be consumed consistently and only then it can be helpful. It’s most important when it comes to kids. A balanced diet answer is prevention better than cure.