Have you ever wondered, "Why is a balanced diet important?" If you have, you're not alone. Many people do not fully understand all the intricacies of eating a healthy diet and living a balanced lifestyle. This article explains what a balanced diet is and why exactly it's so crucial for your health.
About Balanced Diets
When a doctor or registered dietician uses the term balanced diet, he or she is referring to the delineation of food groups and how many calories, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and sugars come from each group with relation to an individual's height and weight. This means a balanced diet isn't something static. It changes based on your personal health history, your height and weight ratio, your gender, and other factors that can be determined by a medical or nutritional professional.
What doesn't change is that everyone should try to consume a balanced diet to keep themselves healthy and free of obesity-related complications. Likewise, those who do not consume enough calories, vitamins, and nutrients may face serious consequences as well. There are also health issues of malnutrition even among the obese who do not consume the right balance of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.
Why Is a Balanced Diet Important?
A balanced diet includes meats or other protein sources, grains, fruits, vegetables, and dairy. There are many reasons why you should try to consume a healthy diet. Here are just some of them.
- By eating a complete diet, you will ensure your body gets all of the vitamins and minerals necessary for proper functioning of all of your organs. If your diet is weak in just one of the essential nutrients, it can have unwelcome side effects and even dangerous consequences.
- Balance in your diet makes it easier to consume the correct number of calories for your height and body type. Consuming plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains helps ensure your diet is rich not only in vitamins and minerals, but in dietary fiber, which can help keep you fuller for longer, preventing the accumulation of excess weight.
- Adequate nutrition has been shown to strengthen your immune system against disease and may help prevent injury as a result of exercise.
- Additionally, by eating the proper amount of foods, your body can better perform cardiovascular and strength training exercises. Likewise, your mental agility also depends on proper nutrition.
- Many people believe that just by eating a balanced diet full of natural, whole foods they are able to reach or maintain good health, improving certain diet-related conditions and their overall feeling of good health.
- It's also common for people to attribute a general feeling of well being when they maintain a healthy diet.
Learn More About Balanced Diets
If you've wondered "why is a balanced diet important?" you may not be aware of the many resources available to you to help you find the answer. There are books, medical and nutritional professionals, and Internet websites that all work to provide information, resources, and the tools you need to get yourself on track toward good nutrition and better health.
For more information about how to incorporate this type of diet into your lifestyle, consult a professional nutritionist. These individuals can tailor a meal plan to your unique likes and dislikes and health needs.
