There is a growing awareness of maintaining health and wellness, and the best way to stay healthy is to eat healthy. There are three main factors that help us develop a completely healthy body: a good diet, regular exercise, and a healthy lifestyle.
Let’s start with diets and take a look at some healthy food groups to eat. It is also essential to look at the caloric content of various foods, as high calories in foods lead to health problems such as obesity and diabetes. Health experts believe that a healthy diet can reduce the risks of several life-threatening diseases, such as diabetes, heart attack, and osteoporosis. Hence, developing, managing and maintaining a good diet has become a fundamental part of our health routine.
And for this we must know the basic difference between a well-balanced diet and a nutritious diet. Although most of us believe that a well-balanced diet and a nutritious diet are the same thing, they really aren’t! A nutritious diet would be made up of foods that contain all the essential nutrients such as proteins, vitamins, fats, carbohydrates, and minerals. A well-balanced diet implies a diet that not only contains foods with all the essential nutrients, but also, in the correct proportions and in the right amount. Even if you take in all the essential nutrients through your daily food, but if they are not in the right proportions or in proper amounts, you may still have to face the health problems. Therefore, instead of just opting for a nutritious diet, every health-conscious person should opt for a well-balanced diet.
The ingredients of a well-balanced diet differ based on an individual’s gender, age, and physical condition. An older adult may be unable to eat certain foods necessary to meet her nutritional requirements. However, a well-balanced diet can help an older adult obtain essential nutrients even through a meager diet. For example, 100 grams of wheat and 100 grams of rice contain almost 12 grams and 6.4 grams of protein, respectively. Similarly, 100 grams of ragi and 100 grams of rice contain 344 mg and 9 mg of calcium, respectively. Therefore, by planning a well-balanced diet we can give all the essential nutrients even with the small amount of food.
To get all the essential nutrients from food, we always need to choose a variety of healthy foods. The five essential nutrients can be obtained if a diet includes foods from the following groups:
green leafy vegetables
Fresh or seasonal fruits
cereals and legumes
Fish and meat products
Dairy products like curd, cheese, etc.
Today, obesity and overweight are one of the main factors of life-threatening diseases such as atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction and diabetes. Obesity and overweight problems are essentially caused by not eating properly and consuming a lot of calories. Our body needs calories every day for proper metabolic functioning. However, excessive consumption of calories can lead to various health problems. An individual’s daily caloric needs depend on several factors, including age, physical condition, height and weight, and body composition. Therefore, you should also be aware of foods, which are high in calories. Take a look at the following figures:
28 grams of butter = 200 calories
37 grams of French fries = 200 calories
75 grams of hamburger = 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 prefer to buy a few kilograms of apples that provide you with other nutrients in addition to eating hamburgers or hot dogs to avoid unnecessary calorie intake. Ideally, women require 1,940 calories and men require 2,550 calories per day. You can also plan a balanced diet with optimal calorie intake by discussing it with your dietitian.
Remember, you can avoid many future treatments and medications by maintaining a well-balanced diet and optimizing your medical care.
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