Are You Eating A Healthy Balanced Diet?
Here are the top tips to ensure you're eating a healthy balanced diet on a regular basis. First of all we'll look at what is a balanced diet, then we'll examine the benefits of a balanced diet and then finally provide you with the top tips used by the healthiest people in the world!
What is a balanced diet?
A healthy balanced diet is one that provides your body with all the nutrients it requires on a daily basis in order to function at optimum an level. This means there are adequate amounts of the macronutrients, which are nutrients that are required in large quantities, i.e. carbohydrates (including fibre), proteins and fats, as well as adequate amounts of the micronutrients, which are nutrients that are required by the body in minute quantities, i.e. vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients (nutrients from plants).
By consuming adequate and healthy amounts of the required nutrients every day you can ensure that not only your body functions at an optimum level but that you also stay in great shape, prevent the onset of any disease and live a long life.
Our whole body is made up of the food we consume. Physiology (the science that deals with the functioning of all living organisms) tells us that almost all of our organs, muscles, ones, and even the DNA (genetic codes) in our cells are reconstructed from the food we eat, and that every year more than 95% of our body is totally replaced!
The quality and efficiency of functioning of the trillions of cells that make up our body are primarily dictated by the quality of the food we consume. This being so, doesn't it make sense that you think about what you are putting into your mouth before eating it?
Since the quality of our diet is a major influence on health and disease, it is imperative that we understand exactly what a healthy balanced diet is and do whatever it takes to make it a permanent part of our lifestyle.
The following are the healthy balanced diet tips that will help you gain all the health benefits of a balanced diet.
Healthy Balanced Diet Tip 1:
Since the human body requires such a wide variety of different nutrients every day it makes sense that a wide variety of foods are eaten. This means that everyone should make an effort to consume vegetables, fruits, sprouts, nuts, seeds, fresh, natural oils, lean meats (red meat, chicken, fish, etc.) and whole grains with the very occasional inclusion of dairy products, alcohol, sweets and other highly processed foods.
Eat a wide variety of foods every day
Even though this recommendation may go against standard nutritional recommendations, you can rest assured that following this approach as outlined will go a long way in ensuring you follow a healthy balanced diet that is ideally suited to the human body and that has not been influenced by powerful food lobby groups or organisations with vested interests in promoting their products.
Healthy Balanced Diet Tip 2:
If you live in a developed country it is highly likely that you eat a diet consisting of a large portion of refined foods. This means that the food you eat has been mass produced and processed. Mass production and processing strips food of many life-sustaining nutrients that are essential if we want to have a healthy and disease-free body.
Eat 'natural' foods every day
If our goal is to achieve a healthy and lean body then we must make an effort to consume as many 'natural' foods as possible. They should be as fresh as possible and not processed in any way.
Generally, the fresher the food is, the higher the levels of nutrients it has compared to food that has been sitting on a shelf or food that has been cooked, packaged or processed.
'Natural' foods should make up the majority of a balanced healthy diet. However, with our hectic lifestyles we can't e expected to eat natural foods all the time, especially with every meal, but we should try to have natural foods as often as possible. By doing so, we will certainly see and more importantly feel the benefits.
Raw foods are examples of 'natural' foods. Foods like fruits, vegetables, sprouts, nuts, seeds and grains eaten uncooked in their natural state are the preferred options. These natural foods provide adequate amounts of both macronutrients and micronutrients that are required by our bodies.
Healthy Balanced Diet Tip 3:
Many diets over or under-emphasise the consumption of at one of the macronutrients. For example, the general public has been brainwashed over the last 20 years to follow a high carbohydrate/ low fat diet and this has contributed to our society getting fatter!
Ensure each meal contains a portion of carbohydrate, protein and fat
In desperation, people are now turning to one of the many low-carbohydrate diet books that are filling bookstores everywhere! These diets may work in the short term by reducing the insulin response but they simply aren't sustainable for most people as a long-term weight-loss strategy. Foods that contain carbohydrates are everywhere!
Having a healthy balanced diet means also having a balanced macronutrient profile. This means there is balance between the portions of carbohydrate, protein and fat in every meal.
This is one of the easiest ways to lose fat fast, maintain energy and provide your body with all the nutrients it needs for proper functioning. This style of eating is also easily sustained for the rest of a person's life.
There you have it! 3 of the very best tips for having a healthy balanced diet!
If you would like more tips on how to have a healthy balanced diet, please get a copy of my book,
Look Good, Feel Great!
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