A balanced diet is a diet that contains a sufficient amount of the nutrients that we require in a day. A balanced diet contains six main nutrients, i.e. Fats, Protein, Carbohydrates, Fibre, Vitamins, and Minerals. All of these nutrients are seen in the foods that we eat regularly. But a balanced diet means, appropriate intake of these nutrients Different food items have different proportions of nutrients present in them. The requirements of the nutrients vary from one person to another depending on the age, gender, and health of a person.
Benefits of a healthy diet
- Balanced Diet aids to maintain good physical and mental health.
- It helps in proper development and growth of the body as required by the age
- A balanced diet helps to increase energy in the body
- It boosts the immune system and helps to resist many diseases
The five groups of foods
The balanced diet consists of five food groups called vegetables, fruits, vitamins, protein, and dairy
Balanced diet chart
A balanced diet chart is a healthy diet illustration chart that includes all the required nutrients. It comprises all the food groups and makes sure that we are getting everything that our body requires through our diet.
Components of a balanced diet chart
1. Vitamin and Minerals
These are body-protecting nutrients that regulate body metabolism and boost our body’s ability against infections, deficiency diseases, and any metabolic imbalance.
Ensure to include different colored, whole fruits, and veggies that are the main source of minerals and vitamins.
Food & Vegetables have nutrients that maintain our body healthy. Likewise, vegetables such as dark green leafy veggies must be added to your diet. Eating a variety of vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, beans, lettuce, etc will aid you to get adequate nutrients required for your body.
2. Proteins
Protein is associated with the growth and development of the body including bodybuilding. This is necessary to repair damaged cells and making of new ones
As per the research of Harvard Medical School, approximately 20% of your daily diet should comprise of protein found in pulses such as whole grams, dals, chickpeas, peas, lentils, beans, peanuts.
Protein has a vital role in growth and development in the early stages of childhood, adolescence, and pregnancy.
3. Carbohydrate
Carbohydrate is the energy source, it provides adequate energy to our body and sustainability. Our body converts carbohydrates to glucose and regulates the voluntary and involuntary actions of the body.
Brown rice, wheat, ragi, jowar, bajra, oatmeal, quinoa, and potatoes are the main source of carbohydrates. Hence, these should not be avoided and should be a part of your daily diet.
4. Fats
This nutrient has a vital role in contributing energy, circulation of vitamins, and hormone synthesis. Sunflower oil, fish oil, nuts, and seeds are the main source of fatty acids which are adequate for the fat requirement in our body
Furthermore, during cooking, you can choose from unrefined or cold-pressed oil which has greater nutritional value than the unrefined oil.
Avacado, butter, ghee, coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, nuts & seeds, eggs, MCT oil, full-fat dairy, dark chocolates are the important source of fats, you can add these things to your daily diet
10 easiest method to maintain a balanced diet chart
If you are conscious of the importance of having a balanced diet chart, we are providing you the 10 easiest ways to follow your meals, lifestyle, and eating habits to get a balanced healthy life.
1. Take meals at regular intervals
A diet chart contains 5 small meals in a day every 3 hours a gap between each meal. A break of more than 3 hours will raise your stress hormones cortisol that will allow the body to store fat in the belly.
If these meals are taken in proper time it will maintain the cortisol levels in check so that you can prevent fat deposition on the belly and thus reducing belly fat. Food intake at the right time will aid in the proper digestion of food
According to the American Heart Association, an improper eating habit affects the body metabolism and can increase the risk to obstruct the normal cardiometabolic health
2. Be physically active throughout the day
If you are physically active during the day it will aid you to maintain a balanced weight and you will feel less lethargic. Diet is not only enough for a healthy body. Moreover, The excess of calories from the meals should burn out and prevent fat deposition to maintain a healthy body.
If you are less, active and lacking in physical activity then your body deposits excess calories on the body that is harmful to long life. So you can either be physically active during the day or you can do a few exercises to keep your body healthy.
3. Add a regular list of healthy foods to your diet
You can select healthy foods as per your likes and add them to your daily meals but it should meet the nutrient requirements of your body. Select your diet plan wisely, so it will help in grocery shopping as per availability and accessibility. Ensure that the diet contains all the required nutrients essential for the body.
4. Replace tinned foods with fruits and vegetables
These days, many are purchasing processed food to reduce cooking and preparing time. But these will not provide essential nutrients to the body. Fruits and vegetables are the natural foods that aids to keep the body healthy and will help to maintain a healthy diet chart for the body.
For example, processed foods are the main reason for weight gain these days. Similarly, processed juices contain mostly just the flavor, not the exact pulp, so prefer to drink natural fruit juices rather than market available juices
Tinned foods are unhealthy and contain preservatives and food colors that are harmful to the body and may increase the risk for certain life-threatening conditions like cancer. So it’s better to wisely choose more fruits, vegetables, and home-cooked food.
5. Include extra protein in your diet
If your motto is to reduce weight, include extra proteins in your diet because protein requires more time and energy to break down in the body. Protein intake of 0.8-1 gram per kg body weight aids in weight loss so you can keep healthy muscle mass as well.
This is allotted:
- Greater functional activity of the organs
- High thermic value
- Regulation of hormones
You can add snacks like sprouts, peanuts, greek yogurt, and seeds instead of packeted chips to fulfill your protein requirement
6. Add milk and milk products
Milk products are a vital source of calcium that is mandatory for healthy bones and is also required for managing muscle contraction. If you an improper intake of calcium, this will increase the risk of osteoporosis and various bone diseases. Low-fat yogurt, cottage cheese, and milk are dairy products rich in calcium.
7. Add food rich in carbohydrates
Many food items are available, which are rich in carbohydrates. You should wisely choose the required amount of carbohydrates required for the body. Pulses, cereals, and millets are the main source of carbs.
A healthy diet chart is mainly comprised of complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, brown rice, oats, lentils, fruits, and vegetables.
These are rich in fiber too which maintain you feeling fuller for a longer duration and makes the digestion proper. Researches have found that regular intake of fiber-containing food will aid to reduce the risk of metabolic disorders like diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases.
8. Avoid excess fat-containing foods
Excess intake of fat-containing foods will lead to obesity. Therefore Reduce the intake of fatty foods, specifically foods which is rich in saturated fats. Which can lead to increase body weight and other health-related problems. For example butter and solid fats.
The requirement of fats needed for the body totally depends on the foods that you are consuming. Research of the Indian Council of Medical Research found that approximately 20 grams of fats are required for adult men and women.
9. Reduce the intake of sugar
Sugar is also called white poison which increases your waistline in the body. Sugar is like an addiction to most people. Excess intake of sugar may cause diabetes, insulin resistance, heart disease, obesity among many lifestyle disorders. So it is a good choice to cut down the sugar in the coffee and tea
10. Reduceexcess consumption of salt
Excess intake of salt-containing foods leads to increase blood pressure by storing extra water in the body. According to research published by the Harvard School of Public Health, the excess consumption of salt and sodium has a bad negative impact on the heart, arteries, kidneys, and brain.
This can increase the risk of heart attacks, strokes, dementia, and kidney disease. Moreover, sodium in salt also leads to water retention that keeps your body fluffy and heavy.