Food

There are many balanced diets and you can choose whichever one you want or construct one from the general guidelines below.

The advantage of a balanced diet is in the title it’s balanced and can give you everything you need, so you are healthy and lose weight as well.

Here are some tips on balanced diets and how they will help you lose weight.

The advantage of balanced diets is that they allow you to maintain weight control naturally rather than having to give up a food group or do to fad or crash diets which are un healthy and don’t work.

What are Balanced Diets?

Most nutrition experts agree that balanced diets are based on three basic concepts:

1. Balance

Most health professionals recommend a diet consisting of a balance as follows:

• Carbohydrate intake : 55-65%

• Protein intake 10-20%

• Fats Up to 15 – 25%

2. Moderation

Many dieting programs are successful simply because they are very good at helping people learn to plan portion size

Generally the accepted wisdom is that meals should be eaten 3 – 5 times a day and this will have the affect of decreasing hunger pangs and the desire to over eat.

You can eat the meals at anytime of day and one rule is always eat breakfast it’s the most important meal of the day.

3. Variation

All healthy diets involve the inclusion of several food-types.

The primary reason for this is by including variety in your diet, you increase your chances of obtaining the required amounts of essential nutrients you need

Vitamin and mineral composition is food-specific, so you need to eat a wide variety of foods to get all the essential nutrients for overall health.

Variation means you won’t get bored, and allows you to enjoy a variety of different foods.

If you check one of the world’s healthiest diets it’s the Japanese diet. The Japanese tend to eat a greater variety of different foods and people tend to be less obese and live longer than with any other diet

The Composition of a Balanced Diet:

Fruit and Vegetables

Eating healthily means at least 5 portions a day – this includes fruit juices in any form. Also included in this group are beans, like baked beans, pulses and lentils.

Good carbohydrates

In this group you should also aim for 5 portions daily.

This group includes cereals, pasta, rice, noodles, oats, bread and boiled jacket potatoes.

You should aim to include at least one food from this group at each meal.