A healthy balanced meal is good for your health. It equipped your body with the right amount of nutrients and at the same time helps you fight and prevent certain diseases. A healthy balanced meal helps you lose weight. We all have our favorite foods and these foods contain different amount of nutrients and calories. However, you need to understand the value of balancing the food group as it is your key to a healthy balanced meal.
There are five food groups and they are grouped depending on the key nutrients they provide. For your body to meet its daily nutritional requirement, you should eat a variety of food belonging to five food groups. This is important because each food has a particular nutritional component. Some foods have these particular nutrients that others don’t.
Whole Grains
This group of food is packed with essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber. What is its importance to the body? Whole grains give the body long lasting energy. More so, whole grains protect the body from various health conditions like diabetes, cardiac-related diseases, and certain types of cancer. Examples of whole grains are pastas, bread, and cereal.
Proteins![Proteins]()
Protein makes the body grow. It promotes muscle growth and facilitates cellular repair. Foods rich in protein are meat (turkey and chicken), eggs, nuts like pecans, walnuts, and almonds, and fish like sardines, tuna, salmon, and trout. Soy and beans are also rich source of protein. If your body lacks protein, then you will most likely have slowed growth, weak immunity, and reduced lean muscle mass.
Fruits and vegetables
Vegetables like kale, broccoli, lettuce, mustard and fruits like bananas, apples, berries, mangoes, and oranges are the key elements to a healthy diet. Foods belonging to this food group are packed with vitamins, fiber, and minerals. These nutrients are essential for normal (healthy) bodily functioning. They protect the body from certain types of diseases, make the skin healthy, and make the hair shiny. To get the most of fruits and vegetables, you have to make sure you eat a variety of these foods. Choose organically grown fruits and vegetables as they are free from pesticides and other chemicals.
Dairy
A lot us have this notion in mind that dairy products are bad for our health, especially if we want to lose weight. The truth to the matter is that dairy products are rich in calcium, which is beneficial for our bones and teeth. The body needs the right amount of calcium in order to remain healthy and strong. However, if you are trying to lose weight, then you need to make sure you only consume low-fat dairy products. Examples of dairy products are milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, and the likes.
Healthy/essential fats
There are two types of fats: saturated (bad) and unsaturated (healthy). Saturated fats are the fats found in animal based products and highly processed foods. They increase the level of LDL (bad cholesterol). Unsaturated fats (healthy fats) are heart-healthy. They increase the level of HDL (good cholesterol). They are not only heart-healthy, but they are also good for the brain and cells as a whole. Examples of foods categorized as healthy fats are nuts, avocados, and olives. On the other hand, you should limit the intake of saturated fats like chips, meats (especially the skin), pastry products, margarine, and fried foods.
Healthy eating is not all about depriving yourself of certain foods. You don’t really need to restraint yourself of the foods you love eating. In order for you to have a balanced meal, you have to make sure that each meal you have consists of foods belonging to five different foods groups. By doing so, you will come up with healthy food choices. The two primary factors to keep in mind are the right food choices and the right amount of foods.
For breakfast, you can have egg, fresh spinach, oatmeal, and a glass of milk. For lunch, you can have quinoa grain, a palm size of chicken (without skin), and raw vegetables (salad). For dinner, you can have a cup of green tea, a vegetable of your choice, a palm size fish (tuna, salmon, sardines), and a sweet potato. If you love rice, then you can do so, but just make sure you eat a cup of brown rice or red rice. For white rice eater, make sure you consume only half cup of rice.
A healthy balanced meal plays a very important role in maintaining a habit of healthy eating. Once you learn the basics of balancing all the food groups, then you will surely be on your way to living a healthy life. You will enjoy a fitter and a disease-free body.
Stick to a basic healthy meal plan and do not fall the these fad diets that you see come out every day such has HCG Diet. There are alternatives to fad diets by just eating good foods. Educate yourself and your family on living a long healthy life.
