Importance-of-a-Balanced-Diet

ImportanceofaBalancedDietAbalanceddiethasamajorroleinattaininglonghealthylife.That’stosay,it'simportanttomakesurethatyourdietiswellbalancedinordertoachievegoodhealth,andavoidlongtermdiseasesandillnesses.Asourlivesbecomebusier,thiscanbecomemoredifficult,howeverthisarticlewilltrytohelpyoutounderstandthecomponentsofabalanceddiet.Firstly,youneedtounderstandthattherearefivemajorfoodgroups.Allfoodsweeatfitintooneofthesefivegroups.Agooddietisonethatfindsthecorrectbalancebetweenthefivegroups.Byfindingthisbalance,yourdietshouldprovideyouwiththenutrientsandenergythatyourbodyrequirestofunctionadequately.IntheUK,mostpeople'sdietsarenotcorrectlybalancedastheyconsumetoomanyfattyandsugaryfoods,butnotenoughfruitandvegetables.Thesefivegroups,whichwe'llgointomoredetailabout,are:Fruit&Vegetables:Despitethisbeingoneofthemostimportantfoodgroups,andhavingmanyhealthbenefits,studieshaveshownthatthemajorityofthepopulationaren'teatingenoughofthem.Thisissurprisingconsideringthegoodnessitprovidesandhugevarietyavailableinshopsnowadays.Protein:Thisreferstoproteinrichfoodswhichmainlyincludesanimalproduce.Forthisreasonvegetariansandvegansoftendon'tconsumeenoughprotein,althoughthiscanbeavoidedsincetherearevegetarianfoodscontaininglotsofprotein.However,mostpeopledonotstruggletoconsumeenoughofthisfoodgroup.Itisanimportantpartofyourdietasit'svitalformanyfunctionsinsidethebody.Dairy:dairyisknownasbeingagoodsourceofcalcium,anddairyproductsarefairlyeasytoincludeinyourdiet.Howeverforpeoplewithalactoseintoleranceoranallergytomilk,gettingenoughdairyintheirdietcanbemoredifficult,althoughtherearemanysubstitutesfortherealthing.Carbohydrates:Thisfoodgroupshouldbeyourbodiesmainsourceofenergyratherthansugarsandfats.Theyshouldgenerallybeapartofeverymeal,andmostpeoplehavenotroubleinincludingthisintheirdaytodaydiet.Certaintypesofcarbohydratesareespeciallygoodforyouandcanpreventdiseasessoit'sbesttochooseyourcarbohydrateswiselytogetthemostoutofthem.Fattyandsugaryfoods:Whilemanypeopleassumethatfatandsugarshouldbecutoutifyouwanttobehealthy,thisiswrong.It'simportanttoincludealittlebitinyourdiet,it'sjustallaboutfindingthecorrectbalance.Besides,ifyounevertreatyourselfthenonedayyou'regoingtobingeonlotsofunhealthyfood,andthat'sreallynotgoodforyou.Remember:Nosinglefoodwillprovidealltheessentialnutrientsthatthebodyneedstobehealthyandfunctionefficiently.