Balanced Diet

From LoveToKnow Diet

Some of the most basic diet advice to date is to eat a balanced diet. Just what is considered a balanced diet and how do you go about achieving one?

Balanced Diet Basics

A legitimate standard of guidelines defining a balanced diet is depicted in the Food Pyramid. Developed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), this graphical representation of a healthy diet starts with a base of breads, cereal, and grains and moves up to fats and oils.

The idea is that it is best to eat more of the foods at the bottom of the pyramid and less of the items at the top. Specific recommendations for a balanced intake of food on a daily basis are as follows:

Bread, cereal, rice and pasta: 6-11 servings
Vegetables: 3-5 servings
Fruit: 2-4 servings
Meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs and nuts: 2-3 servings
Milk, yogurt and cheese: 2-3 servings
Fats, oils and sweets: use sparingly

This basic pyramid has been replaced with My Pyramid, a more individually tailored eating plan based on your age, gender and amount of physical activity.

The My Pyramid site tells you how many calories you should be getting each day. It also outlines the quantity of grains, protein, milk products, fruits, and vegetables that are required to comprise your daily caloric needs in a balanced fashion.

Beyond the Basics

So what makes a diet like the one illustrated by the food pyramid a "balanced diet"? Many experts say the basis of healthy eating means emphasizing fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

Lean meats, cheeses, and low-fat or no-fat dairy products are also part of a balance diet. Fatty meats, fried foods and cholesterol-filled products like eggs are often discouraged or limited.

Fast food and junk food, items that are high in fat, salt and sugar, should also be limited or eliminated. It is widely known that cutting trans fats, those heart-clogging fats that come from partially hydrogenated oils and are often found in packaged baked goods and fried foods, is a good idea.

More specific recommendations for eating a balanced diet include:

Ensuring that at least half of all the breads and grains you eat each day are whole grains, for at least three ounces of whole grains a day.
Eating fruits and vegetables from the whole spectrum, including greens, orange foods, legumes, starchy vegetables and other vegetables each day.
Consuming three cups of milk or other dairy products daily if you eat dairy. This is important for calcium and may also help you lose weight.
Limiting cholesterol intake to 300 milligrams a day.
Limiting fat to about 20 or 30 percent of calories consumed daily. Get as much of your fat from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated sources as you can, and limit saturated fat and trans fat to no more than 10% of total fat.
Cutting as much added sugar as you can from your diet.
Eating no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day. That's about a teaspoon of salt. (1/4 teaspoon of salt contains 600 milligrams of sodium.)

Gaining Balance with Exercise

The most important element to eating a balanced diet is, of course, the food you eat. However, another critical element when you are trying to eat healthy is supporting your new healthy lifestyle with a sensible exercise plan.

Working out regularly, even if you are just walking, is extremely helpful for reinforcing healthy eating patterns. Both eating a balanced diet and getting exercise will make you feel better, which will reinforce your new positive behaviors.

Once you are eating well and exercising regularly, you'll feel the difference when you haven't treated your body as well as you normally do with your healthy lifestyle habits. This often helps to give you more incentive to continue down the better path.

Eating a balanced diet can be difficult at first, especially if you are used to eating a lot of fast food, packaged food and foods high in fat, salt and sugar instead of fruits, vegetables and grains prepared more like nature intended. But once you make the commitment to this style of eating, you will feel healthier, stronger, and, yes, more balanced than ever before.