There is an increasing awareness of maintaining health and well-being, and the best way to stay healthy is to eat healthy. There are three main factors that help us develop a fully healthy body: good nutrition, regular exercise, and a healthy lifestyle.
Let’s start with dieting and take a look at some healthy food groups that we should be consuming. It’s also important to see the calorie content of different foods, as increased calories in foods lead to health problems like obesity and diabetes. Health experts believe that a healthy diet can reduce the risk of a number of life-threatening diseases, such as diabetes, heart attacks and osteoporosis. Therefore, developing, managing and maintaining a good diet has become an essential part of our health routine.
And for that, we should know the fundamental difference between a balanced diet and a nutritious diet. Although most of us believe that a balanced diet and a nutritious diet are one and the same, in reality they are not!!! A nutritious diet consists of foods that contain all the essential nutrients such as proteins, vitamins, fats, carbohydrates and minerals. A balanced diet includes a diet that contains not only foods with all the essential nutrients, but also in the right proportions and in sufficient quantities. Even if you get all of the essential nutrients through your daily diet, but they are not in the right proportions or sufficient amounts, you may still face health problems. Therefore, every health-conscious person should opt for a balanced diet instead of a purely nutrient-rich diet.
The ingredients of a balanced diet differ according to gender, age and physical fitness. An older adult may not be able to consume certain foods needed to meet their nutritional needs. However, a balanced diet can help ensure that an older adult is getting the essential nutrients, even through a sparing diet. For example, 100 grams of wheat and 100 grams of rice contain almost 12 grams and 6.4 grams of protein, respectively. Likewise, 100 grams of ragi and 100 grams of rice contain 344 mg and 9 mg of calcium, respectively. By planning a balanced diet, we can therefore supply all the important nutrients even with the small amount of food.
In order to get all the essential nutrients from food, we must always choose healthy food choices. All five essential nutrients can be obtained when a diet includes foods from the following groups:
· Green leafy vegetables
· Fresh or seasonal fruit
· Cereals and legumes
· Fish and meat products
Dairy products such as quark, cheese etc.
Obesity and overweight are now one of the main factors behind life-threatening diseases such as arteriosclerosis, heart attacks and diabetes. Obesity and overweight problems are mainly caused by eating the wrong foods and consuming too many calories. Calories are needed daily by our body for proper metabolic function. However, excessive calorie consumption can lead to various health problems. A person’s daily calorie needs depend on various factors such as age, physical fitness, height and weight, and body composition. Therefore, you also need to pay attention to the foods that are high in calories. Look at the following numbers:
· 28 grams of butter = 200 calories
· 37 grams of potato chips = 200 calories
· 75 grams of burgers = 200 calories
· 66 grams of hot dogs = 200 calories
· 385 grams of apples = 200 calories
· 357 grams of green peas = 200 calories
· 588 grams of broccoli = 200 calories
· 1425 grams of celery = 200 calories
Knowing this, you would surely choose to buy a few kilograms of apples, which also provide you with other nutrients, instead of eating burgers or hot dogs to avoid unnecessary calorie intake. Ideally, women need 1940 calories a day and men 2550 calories. You can also plan a balanced and calorie-optimized diet by discussing this with your nutritionist.
Remember that you can avoid many future treatments and medications by maintaining a balanced diet and optimizing your diet healthcare.
Thanks to Jennifer Salerno
