A balanced diet is a healthy diet. 

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There are many fad diets that pop up from time to time, but a well-rounded diet in which you have appropriate amounts of each food group would be best and most sustainable for maintaining a healthy weight in the long run.

 

You should never try and exclude a macronutritent from your diet, since that will lead to health problems.

 

Some people try to exclude carbohydrates or fat from their diets entirely to lose weight quickly, while some may eat minute amounts of protein because they feel they don't quite need protein in their diet if they don't work out regularly, but this will lead to poor results.

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Let's look at some of the things you should be having in all your meals.

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FAT

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Fat is an essential part of a balanced diet. It's important to maintain a normal, healthy metabolism, and is key to good nerve and mental function.

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The key to eating fat without putting on too much weight and not increasing your risk of heart disease is to make sure you stick to healthy fats.

 

An example would be extra-virgin Olive Oil, which is high in mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fats.

 

These kinds of fats help keep you and your heart healthy. They are good for you, and you should aim to have some of them in your meals every day. 

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Bad fats to avoid would be saturated fats, since these increase the risk of heart disease and of you getting a stroke.

 

Try to avoid foods rich in these kinds of fats by avoiding butter, hydrogenated cooking oils, and animal fat (like chicken skin or the fatty cuts of meat).

 

Mono- and poly-unsaturated fats are good for you, and saturated fats are bad.

 

We'll look at this in a bit more depth in our article on 'Fat'.

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When choosing foods, read the nutritional labels if they are available, to look at the amount of fat in something before deciding to eat it. Some foods may seem fairly harmless, but may actually be chock full of fat. An example is coleslaw salad, which sounds healthy, but is actually high in fat.

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CARBOHYDRATES

 

Carbohydrates are an important part of a balanced meal. They provide your mind and body with the energy it needs to get through the day, and are also an important building block for the tissue in your body. 

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Some diets advocate a low carbohydrate intake, which has been shown to help speed up weight loss because of the ketogenic effect a low-carbohydrate diet has on your body, but it would be unhealthy to exclude it entirely from your diet.

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It is important to choose complex carbohydrates, since these do not cause a sudden sharp increase in your blood sugar levels following a meal.

 

Complex carbohydrates have a lower glycaemic index, and this makes them healthier for you.

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We'll go through this in a bit more detail in our article on 'Complex Carbohydrates'. 

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There are actually some foods that may sound healthy, but are high in sugars and can be bad for you. Fruit juice and some types of yoghurt may be marketed as being 'fat-free', but if you look at the nutritional label, you'll see that a lot of them are high in sugar.

 

These simple sugars can cause 'Insulin resistance' if taken in large amounts regularly, and increase your risk of developing Diabetes.

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Stick with complex carbohydrates to fuel your brain and body through the day, and try to avoid foods high in sugar.

 

PROTEIN

 

Protein is an important part of all your meals.

 

Amino acids in protein provide the building blocks for all tissue, especially muscle, hair, skin and bones.

 

A diet low in protein can impair normal bodily functions, and affect your muscle recovery after any exertion.

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Having said that, some people may have to be on a low protein diet because of kidney or liver problems, so do check with your doctor first about any dietary restrictions you may have.

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Protein is a nutrient-dense food, so eating lean protein helps make you feel full, and stay full after a meal. This stops you from eating unhealthy foods and snacking between meals.

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Protein also helps you to stay trim, because it has a thermogenic effect on your body. Your body expends energy digesting lean meats like chicken breast.

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Just make sure you stick with LEAN sources of protein.

 

Remove the skin from your chicken. Pick flank steak over a regular steak cut. Avoid too many egg yolks in a day.

 

These kind of little changes will help you enjoy the health benefits of protein without putting on some excess fat.

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VEGETABLES

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Eat your veggies! They are a good source of vitamins and minerals. 

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Green leafy vegetables contain vitamins like Vitamins A, C, and K, which are essential for your body to function well. They also contain minerals like iron, calcium and magnesium, which are also important for you to have.

 

A lot of vegetables also contain phytonutrients, which help to reduce the levels of inflammation in your body and keep you healthy.

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A lot of vegetables also contain anti-oxidants, which help with your general health.

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Vegetables are also high in dietary fiber, and help you maintain a healthy digestion, and bowel habits. Eating some vegetables daily helps keep you regular.

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MYTHS

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There are some misconceptions about food that I've encountered in the past. A few of them are listed below, read on to see if you can correct some falsehoods you may have heard from people around you.

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" Dietary fat will make me fat  "

You should try to avoid only unhealthy sources of fat! As we've talked about above, healthy fats are essential to keeping your mind and body functioning well. Make sure you have adequate fat in your diet - from healthy sources! But be careful not to over do it either. 

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" I'm not a bodybuilder, I don't need protein "

Protein is an essential nutrient that everyone needs. You need adequate amounts of it to keep your joints, muscles, skin, hair and nails healthy. You still need protein, even if you don't lift weights and are not trying to build muscle. Just make sure it's from a lean source!

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" I don't like eating vegetables "

Vegetables contains lots of important minerals and vitamins. Missing out on an entire food group because you don't like vegetables is very bad for your health! Diets low in dietary fiber also increase your risk of developing colon cancer.

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" I only have one unhealthy meal a day "

One unhealthy meal may not sound like a lot, but if you eat 3 solid meals in the day, and one of them is something fried, or oily, or overly sweet, then you're eating unhealthy foods 33% of the time. It'll certainly accumulate and be a problem in the long run! Focus on staying healthy with your diet. You can consider allowing yourself to indulge in one 'cheat meal' a week, but only if your diet has been strict through the entire week.

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WRAP IT UP!

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A balanced diet is a healthy diet. Make sure you eat adequate amounts of the right types of food, and take special care to avoid the things bad for you.

 

This article is just a brief overview, do have a look at some of our other articles under the 'Diet' section to learn more about the different kinds of fats, protein and carbohydrates.

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We'll also look at how you can split your meal plate up to make sure you have enough of each kind of food group in your meal. You can read the article here. 

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