What is a Balanced Diet?
You eat food everyday. It is important part of your social life and physical survival. The food you eat gives you energy to complete your daily activities. It is important to have a healthy diet. Everyone recommends eating a balanced diet to be healthy. So, what is a balanced diet?
A balanced diet consists of a variety of foods in your diet. You need to eat many different foods to maintain a healthy balanced diet.
You should include foods from all the basic food groups including meats, dairy, bread, vegetables and fruits.
Each daily meal should contain some carbohydrates for energy, proteins for growth and repair, small quantities of vitamins for health, small portions of fat for energy, salt for teeth and bones, and fiber to help with digestion.
Balanced diets can differ from person to person. One person’s body may need more protein for growth and repair while another person may have digestion problems and need to add more fiber to his/her diet. It is important to learn your own body’s food needs.
Many people view the food pyramid as a great way to create a balanced diet. The food pyramid contains all the basic food groups including the six basic food groups.
You should have a certain number of servings from each food group. The six basic food groups and the recommended serving size needed to maintain a balanced diet include:
Bread, cereal, rice and pasta group – 6 to 11 servings per day
Fruit group – 2 to 4 servings per day
Vegetable group – 3 to 5 servings per day
Milk, yogurt and cheese group – 2 to 3 servings a day
Meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs and nuts group – 2 to 3 servings a day 6. Fats, oils and sweets – use sparingly during the day
A great way to find out what your specific balanced diet should be is to go to My Pyramid. This is a governmental webpage designed by the United States Department of Agriculture that will help you design a food pyramid to fit your body’s needs.