What is a balanced diet and how can a healthy diet plan help you to stay in shape.

What is a balanced diet?

Order your balanced diet plate

A balanced diet for healthy eating can actually be quite straight forward. A diet based mainly on starchy foods like rice or pasta accompanied with lots of fruit and vegetables with some protein like lean meat fish and lentils forms the basis of a balanced diet. Add some milk and dairy products and go easy on the fact salt and sugar. A diet based on this formula will provide all the nutrients required.

The key to a healthy diet is getting the balance correct. This means eating a wide variety of foods but in the right proportions. It also means consuming the right amount of such foods in order to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight.

Even if you are following a balanced diet you may need to consume fewer calories in order to lose weight but still keeping the overall proportion of foods correct.

What are Food groups?

All foods can be divided into five main groups. To follow a healthy balanced diet try to choose a variety of different foods from the first for food groups. These are:

Fruit and vegetables
Starchy foods: rice, pasta, potatoes and bread. Choose wholegrain varieties.
Meat, eggs, fish and beans
Milk and dairy foods
Fats and sugar foods

You can read more about these food groups below. It is important to have some fat in your diet so you do need consume some foods from the last category above. However ensure that these form only a small part of your diet.

A balanced diet plates is a good way to measure out food proportions to ensure that you get the right balance in your diet. Often known as eatwell plates the idea is to fill your plate according to the marked proportions on the diet plates. This is an easy way to ensure you eat the right proportions of foods from the correct food groups.

Look at some diet plates

Balanced diet food groups

1. Fruit and vegetables

It is advised to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day. Fruit and vegetables are full of nutrients and vitamins and they are also low in calories and fat. They also contain a high level of fibre and are all around fantastic foods for bulking out your diet, losing weight and maintaining weight.

In addition to weight loss benefits fruit and vegetables provide plenty of health benefits such as reducing risks of terminal diseases.

Examples of all one servings of fruit of vegetables include:

One apple
A banana
One pear
A slice of pineapple
A slice of melon
Three heaped tablespoons of vegetables

You can easily incorporate fruit and vegetables into your diet by swapping sugary snacks for a piece of fruit or adding fruit to your cereals. Add some salad to your lunch and more vegetables with your evening meal. Dried fruit is also tasty and counts towards your five daily servings.

2. Starchy foods

This foods group includes potatoes, pasta, cereals and rice. Such foods are a good source of energy and also contain plenty of nutrients.

As a diet starchy foods should be around a third of your food intake so meals should be based on these foods.

Make sure you choose wholegrain varieties like wholewheat pasta and brown rice. Such foods contain more fibre than their processed white counterparts.

3. Meat, fish, eggs and beans

This food group provides your protein which is essential for repair of the body and growth. Such foods also contain a wide range of vitamins and minerals.

Try to choose lean meat and take the skin of poultry to cut down on fat intake.

Fish is rich in omega three fatty acids and you should aim for at least two portions of fish per week including one portion of oily fish such as mackerel. Fish can either be fresh, frozen or canned. However be aware that canned and smoked fish are higher in salt.

For vegetarians, as well as meat eaters, pulses such as beans, nuts and seeds are a great source of protein. Eggs are also a great way to incorporate protein into your diet. In addition nuts are high fibre and great for a snack. However they do contain a high level of fat and should be eaten in moderation.

4. Milk and dairy foods

This food group is also a good source of protein together with calcium which is good for bones.

However some dairy can be high in fat so use semi-skimmed milk, skimmed milk or low-fat hard cheeses or cottage cheese or low fat yoghurt instead of a full fat counterparts.

5. Fat and sugar

Although sources of energy for the body if eaten in large amounts the body whilst all such foods as fat meaning weight gain. Ultimately this will lead to obesity and increase the risks of certain diseases such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

There are two different types of fat.

Saturated fat is found in foods like cheese, sausages, butter and baked goods like pies and cakes. He raises cholesterol and increases the risk of heart disease.
Unsaturated fats help to lower cholesterol and provide essential fatty acids. Such fats are found in oily fish, seeds, olives and avocados.

For a balanced diet aimed to cut down in foods containing saturated fat and replace with unsaturated fat foods instead, they are still in small amounts.

To achieve this follow these tips: