Maintain Balanced Diet for a Healthy Life:-
Diet containing adequate amounts of all the necessary nutrients essential for healthy growth and activity is called as balanced diet. Maintain Balanced Diet for a Healthy Life
You should take necessary steps to make your diet well balanced so as to stay healthy and stave off various diseases and illnesses associated with deficiencies. Though it is busy to maintain a well balanced diet everyday in our busy lives, making sure that you include proper amounts of the following foods in your daily meals will just do the trick.
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Steps to Maintain Balanced Diet for a Healthy Life
Eat lots of fruits and veggies
- Include a minimum of 5 portions of fruits and vegetables per day as fruits and vegetables fall under very important food groups.
- These provide a great amount if vitamins and minerals all which are hard to find in any other sources.
- Fruits form a great choice for snacks as they are low in fat and high in water content.
- Fruits and veggies form a major part of balanced diet and help in decreasing the incidence of diseases like high blood pressure and some cancers.
- Fruits are best eaten raw and vegetables steamed.
Include protein rich foods
- Proteins are generally called as body building foods and are usually derived from animal sources. These are as important as fruits and vegetables.
- There are lots of vegetarian alternatives to get the right amount of protein into your diet.
- Protein carries out important functions like growth and repair. They are needed for healing injuries, muscle and nail growth, repair of nerve cells etc
- A diet too low on protein causes arthritis, muscle deterioration etc and too high protein leads to kidney damage. You should know how to strike a balance.
- Ideal amount of protein per day in a balanced diet for females is 45g and for males it is 56g.
- Foods containing proteins include meat, poultry, eggs, seafood, nuts, seeds, pulses and soya products.
- Protein deficiency also leads to sleep deprivation, hair loss, muscle cramps or soreness etc. If you experience these symptoms, visit a doctor immediately.
Have Dairy Products
- Dairy products are a great source of calcium and are very easily digestible. These occupy a significant space in balanced diet
- These form a great source of calcium, which promotes strong bones and teeth and responsible for regulation of muscle contraction.
- A balanced diet includes three portions of diary per day. Children and teenagers need more dairy as they grow actively.
- If you are a vegetarian, you can get your calcium from spinach, almonds, soya milk etc
Good Carbohydrates
- Carbohydrates should be included in every meal you have as they are the main source of energy for our bodies.
- There are good as well as bad carbohydrates. You should choose the right carbohydrates to avoid certain diseases.
- Good carbs include – whole grain products which provide fiber, vitamins, minerals and also rich in carbohydrates. Others include potatoes, root vegetables, oats, nuts, brown rice, beans, lentils etc
- Bad carbs include – Refined grains, white sugar, chocolates, cakes, pastries. Limit these for living healthy.
- Balanced diet includes good carbohydrates as one-third of every meal.
Sugar and Fat abundant foods
- A balanced diet does not actually cuts off these things completely because a limited amount of fat is actually good.
- Fat supplies essential fatty acids, cushions your internal organs and transports fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. In addition, they improve immune system and heart health.
- Saturated fat is the good fat. It can be found in butter, meat, cheese, eggs, milk, fat yoghurt etc
- In a well balanced diet, Fats make 35% of the energy. So, include not more than 70-95 of fat per day.
- Sugars found in natural sources are good but artificial ones are not. Artificial sugar gives you empty calories which harms your health.
Maintaining a balanced diet is not too hard. Try including a food item from each of the above mentioned food groups in your every meal to balance your diet properly. Healthy eating and exercise is healthy living.
The Above is all about How to Maintain Balanced Diet for a Healthy Life