A balance diet is a way in which a
person takes proper amount of food and adequate amount of water. A healthy
balanced diet helps keep the body strong, resistant to disease and improve
general health. It
is essential for lowering many chronic health risks, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension , epilepsy, asthma and cancer.
Maintaining a healthy and balanced
diet is essential to keep
the mind sharp and promotes a feeling of well being. Eating the right foods
also helps you function better at work place and at home also.
A balance diet must contain carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamins, mineral salts and fibre. A balanced diet needs to have appropriate
amount of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates which is known as macro-nutrients, calories
to support energy needs, and micro-nutrients need for human nutrition without inducing toxicity or
excessive weight gain from consuming excessive amounts.
Carbohydrates:
carbohydrates are the main source of energy. It is
converted more readily into glucose, the form of sugar that's transported and
used by the body, than proteins
or fats
can. It is found in rice, brown rice, bread, flour, noodles, pasta, potatoes,
cereals, barley, beans, nuts, oats, sweet corns, root vegetables,
biscuits, cakes etc.
Proteins: Protein
is essential for the growth of cells and tissue repair. All proteins are made
up of different combinations of 20 compounds called amino acids. It is the
building block of amino acids. We get
proteins from animal and plant source. Animal proteins are meat, poultry, fish,
egg and dairy products. Plant proteins are cereals, beans, nuts, seeds, grains,
legumes, pulses and soya products.
Fats:
Fats provide a source of energy
and contain fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Fat transports these vital
nutrients around the body. Some fat is essential in everyone's diet. Excessive
amounts of fat are found in saturated animal fats and trans-fatty acids. They
are meat, butter, egg, cheese, cream, full fat milk, full fat yoghurt etc.
Unsaturated fats are found in avocados, unsalted nuts, seeds, trout, tuna, salmon,
corn oil, nut oil, sunflower oil etc.
Vitamins
& Mineral: Vitamins is essential nutrients that your body needs in
small amounts to work properly and keep you healthy. There are two
types of vitamins: fat-soluble and water-soluble. Fat-soluble vitamins are
found mainly in fatty foods such as animal fats including butter and lard,
vegetable oils, dairy foods, liver and oily fish. Water-soluble vitamins are
found in fruit, vegetables and grains. Unlike fat-soluble vitamins, they can be
destroyed by heat or by being exposed to the air. They can also be lost in
water used for cooking.
Minerals are essential for
building bone and teeth, controlling body fluids and convert the food into
energy. Minerals are found in varying amounts in foods such as meat, cereals
including cereal products such as bread, fish, milk and dairy foods,
vegetables, fruit (especially dried fruit) and nuts.
Fibre:
Fibre playing a important role
to digested food. Fibre can help to
lower blood cholesterol. It helps to control your appetite.
Insoluble fibre is found in wholegrain breads, whole-wheat flour, beans, brown
rice, pulses, outs, fruits with edible seeds etc. Soluble fibre found in
apples, barley, pears, strawberries, legumes etc.
Some tips for eat healthily:
It’s really easy to maintain a
balanced diet if you are little conscious. You have to turn your food plan in
to your daily food habits. Experts say that healthy food habit is key to healthy
lifestyle. Some tips are given below:
- Eat varies amount of vegetable and fruit in your daily diet.
- Drink plenty of water.
- Eat more fish
- Eat fewer amount of red meat
- Take carbohydrates in a required amount
- Try avoid saturated fatty acids
- Avoid alcohol
- Don’t skip any meals, especially breakfast.
- Take your meal in proper time every day.
