What Is A Balanced Diet?

We are always being told that we should eat a balanced diet, but what does this actually mean and how can we achieve it?
This topic will look at the food we eat and what it consists of. and will help you to choose foods that are appropriate for you and will achieve a balanced diet. By the end of the module, you will be able to:
List the three main parts of a healthy diet (protein, carbohydrates, and fats) and where to find them.
Identify the differences between simple and complex carbohydrates.
State the important reasons for having vitamins and minerals in the diet and identify some of the main sources.
The easiest way of looking at food is to split it up into four parts. Select each of the tabs below to show examples of them:
Protein
Foods such as meat, fish, dairy products, beans, pulses, seeds, and nuts are all excellent sources of protein.
Fats
Foods such as meat, dairy products, olive oil, and sunflower oil are all sources of fat.
Carbohydrates 
Foods such as pasta, rice, potatoes, and bread are all excellent sources of carbohydrates and have very little fat.
Vitamins and minerals 
Vegetables such as carrots, peas, and green beans, and fruits such as apples, oranges, and mangoes are all excellent sources of vitamins and minerals.

What is Protein?

Protein is what builds and repairs our bodies. It’s pretty useful stuff!
Common proteins
Some common examples of foods that contain protein include meat, fish, beans and lentils, nuts, and dairy products.
Other things to All the above have vitamins and minerals in them as well.

What are Carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are found in a number of foods and give us food calories which we turn into energy.
Two types of carbohydrates
There are two types of carbohydrates called simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates.
What are Carbohydrates?
These are sugars. Any form of sugar (white, brown, etc) is a simple carbohydrate with limited nutritional value.
The body will use it very quickly and will cause a rush of energy. If it is not used up quickly, it can turn into fat.
Soft drinks
Many soft drinks contain glucose, sucrose, or fructose. These are just simple carbohydrates (sugars) with very limited nutritional value.
What are complex carbohydrates?
These are broken down in the body into glucose. They also contain minerals and vitamins and fiber. It takes the body longer to break down complex carbohydrates and they, therefore, give you energy for longer and make you feel less hungry. They also don’t convert to fat as easily as simple carbohydrates.
In a can of fizzy drinks, only water, flavorings, and SUGAR is contained in it.

What are Fats?

Fats are really important in your diet – not too much though. Fat helps the body use minerals like iron, for example, which will NOT travel around the body without fats.
Good and Bad Fats
There are good and bad fats:
Good fats are unsaturated, for example, olive oil, sunflower oil, and other vegetable oils.
Bad fats are saturated and are found in food which comes from animals, like meat and dairy products.
Oily Fish
Oily fish such as salmon, pilchards, mackerel, sardines, and anchovies are great because they also contain something called Omega 3, which has been shown to reduce the risk of a heart attack.
Japanese – The heart attack rate in Japan (high fish diet) is really low.
Inuits (Eskimos) – They have a really high-fat diet BUT they eat a lot of fish (containing unsaturated fat) which reduces the risk and so hardly anyone suffers from heart attacks.
What are Fats?
Bad fats
All meat and dairy products contain saturated fat (fat from animals). These are bad because they stick to your arteries and can eventually cause heart problems.
Hydrogenated or Trans fats
These are made in factories by pumping hydrogen gas under pressure through vegetable fats and are used by manufacturers to keep the fat solid.
Sticks to you – Like saturated fat, they stick to your arteries and eventually cause heart problems.
Banned – Many supermarkets have now banned these products from their own ready meals and other products. Look out for them on food labels and ban them yourself.

What are Fats?

A lot of fat – Do you put a lot of butter on sandwiches, toast, potatoes, and other foods? Butter is very high in fat.
Margarine – This is more or less the same as butter.
What’s the difference?
Margarine generally contains unsaturated fat, while butter contains saturated fat.
Use low-fat spread – These usually have half the fat of butter and margarine.
Biscuits 
Do you eat biscuits (high fat) such as chocolate biscuits as a pudding? Try low-fat yogurts instead.
Even healthier
When you have a sandwich, have some vegetables with it or after it. like carrot, celery, or even fruit instead of crisps and other snacks. You’ll feel fuller and better for it.
Unsaturated fat 
Use unsaturated fats like vegetable oil wherever possible.
Cut Down 
Learn to use less fatty meat and dairy products.
Tips
Grill meat so the fat comes out of it. Use semi-skimmed or skimmed milk/dairy products or try soya milk. Use cheese sparingly (grate it).

What are Vitamins?

Vitamins and minerals
A large number of vitamins and minerals are only found in fruit and vegetables.
What are vitamins?
Vitamins are small quantities of nutrients found in food, which help our bodies to work properly.
Names
Vitamins usually have letters for names, for example, A. B, C, D. E. Sometimes they also have numbers, like B12.
Where do You Find Vitamins?
Common vitamins
Some vitamins, for example. A, D, and E are in fats and are stored in the body (liver) until we need them. Other vitamins, for example, vitamin C, are not stored and are flushed out when you go to the toilet. So you need to have things with vitamin C in them every day.
Where to find vitamin C
You can find vitamin C in:
Green vegetables such as cabbage and broccoli.
Oranges and other fruit.
Sweet potatoes.
Red peppers (which have the most vitamin C of all the vegetables).
What are Minerals?
You need to have various minerals in your diet such as iron and calcium, which you can t get from eating just one type of food.
Common minerals
Iron is an essential mineral as it helps the body to work properly. Calcium is really important for forming our bones and teeth. We need 700mg per day – that’s just less than a gram per day.
Very odd minerals
Chromium, zinc, manganese, and many other minerals are also needed in tiny amounts in your body. You get them from eating a wide variety of food.
Not just the body
The brain needs to have vitamins and minerals to function. It sends messages just like e-mails and texts to all parts of the body. This messaging relies on reactions between chemicals in your body.
Where do you Find Minerals?
Calcium
You can find calcium in dairy products such as milk, cheese, yogurt, etc. People who are intolerant or are allergic to dairy products need to get their calcium from somewhere else – usually, calcium tablets or soya milk fortified with calcium.
Chromium
Chromium is a metal that your body needs in the tiniest amount – just 0.025 milligrams per day. But it affects insulin production and hence affects how much energy we get from the food we eat. You get chromium from meat, wholegrain cereals (wholemeal bread), lentils, and spices.
Supplements
Vitamin and mineral supplements are OK. However, you should really try to get all your vitamins and minerals from eating a balanced and varied diet.

Other Essentials 
Salt is essential
You need salt (sodium chloride) in order to keep your body going. You’d go really strange without it, but you don’t need a lot of it.
Cheap as chips
Salt used to be really expensive so people only used a little, but now it’s really cheap and people use too much. Processed foods often contain too much salt as it is such a cheap preservative.
How much a day?
6 grams of salt a day is the limit anyone should eat, and we get most of these 6 grams from just eating normal food without putting any salt on it at all.

What is fibre?

One final element of food is fibre, which helps to keep your bowels regular. It takes all the stuff your body doesn’t need and puts it in a parcel to get rid of it.
Where do we get fibre from?
We have all heard of wholemeal bread. Well, wholemeal means nothing is taken out of the bread or the flour so all the fibre remains. Wholemeal pasta and brown rice are the same – nothing is taken out. So, always try to buy food which says it is wholemeal. Vegetables and fruit also have fibre, so they will also protect your body and keep it regular.

Eat a Balanced Diet!

From this Article, we can see how important the right balance of food is to keep our bodies healthy.
So, next time you buy food, remember to:
Eat the right balance of proteins, carbohydrates, fats and vitamins, and minerals.
Avoid saturated fats where possible and go for unsaturated fats.
Eat salt in moderation.
Get fiber in your diet and get wholemeal food.

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