Eating a Balanced Diet
Eating a balanced diet is the foundation of maintaining a healthy body, an active life and is the main aspect of any serious slimming plan which aims to maintain a healthy weight.
The following sections show you:
- the main food groups
- how much you should be eating of each type
- examples of good foods and bad foods of that type
Carbohydrate rich foods (rice, pasta, cereals etc.)
- These are the body’s main sorce of energy and should form around 50% of a healthy diet. almost every meal should have a carbohydrate as the basic ingredient, e.g. rice, pasta, cereals, breads, starchy vegetable (potatoes).
- Eating processed/refined carbohydrates is a major cause of weight gain and obesity. You should aim to eat carbohydrates in their natural unprocessed states because they provide a slower release of energy, result in less food cravings and are good for the digestive system.
- Examples of unrefined/unprocessed and processed carbohydrates:
| More processed/refined (Worse) | Less processed/refined (Better) |
| Cornflakes | Museli |
| White rice | Brown/wholegrain rice |
| White bread, brown bread | Wholemeal, wholegrain bread |
| mashed potato, french fries | Potates boiled with skins |
| cooked pureed carrot | Raw carrot |
Fruit & Vegetables
Aim to eat five portions a day. It sounds hard but its easy, e.g.
- 1 glass of orange juice with breakfast
- 1 portion of salad and 1 apple as part of lunch
- 2 vegetables with dinner/tea - broccoli and carrots.
Why? Fruit and vegetables contain hundreds of vitamins an nutrients that help the body to function properly. Taking vitamin pills is not a good substitute because man-made vitamins are not normally the same as those found in fruit and vege, they are close approximations developed in laboratories. Vitamin pills and dietary suppliments are ofen not easily absorbed and used by the body and they will not give you the complete range of nutrients that you need.
Fresh and unprocessed are best - Why? Because processing such as cooking/overcooking, preserving (e.g. in cans, freezing) destroys many of the essential nutrients. The body and digestive system must also work harder to digest unprocessed, whole and uncooked foods helping to make you feel full fo longer and keeping you digestive system in good health.
Protein Rich Foods (meat, fish, pulses, nuts etc.)
- Protein is used to build and repair the body - skin, muscles, tendons etc. Body builders and atheletes often take excess protein to help build muscle but the recommended amount for most people is 10-15% of the diet.
- Proteins contain amino acids which are the actual things that build and repair the body. They are also used to make important chemicals in the brain called neurotransmitters which are essential for normal brain function, concentration, reducing stress levels etc.
- Meat and fish are rich sources of amino acids. Vegetarians need to eat a wide variety of plant, vegetable and dairy proteins such as from eggs, nuts, seeds, beans, pulses to get the complete range of essential amino acids.
Fat Rich Foods
Fat is essential to the diet, it is not just for providing energy.
- Fat transports certain vitamins around the body (vitamins A, D, C and K)
- Fat makes food taste nice
- Saturated and hydrogenated fats should be avoided
- Meat contains saturated fat so choose lean cuts and remove the skin (most of the fat is under the skin)
- Many processed foods contain hydrogenated vegetable oil
- Sunflower, olive oil and other vegetable oils
- Fish
Dairy Products
- Dairy products, especially milk and cheese are many people’s main source of calcium which is essential to bone formation and health.
- Many other sources of calcium are available such as calcium enriched milk substitutes, e.g. soya milk.
- Dark green leafy vegetables including broccoli, spinach and watercress as well as some fish and many nuts also contain calcium.
- Skimmed milk contains the same amount of calcium as full fat.
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