So why are healthy diets so important for weight control and slimming? Eating a balanced diet of foods is vitally important because it has a direct effect on your body and your overall health.
If you are not eating enough of the right kind of foods, or too much of the wrong ones, your health may be affected - and you certainly won't be pursuing the healthy diets regime!
Did you know that heart disease is the number one killer in the UK and the US, and can be caused by poor diets. There are lots of other problems that can arise if you are not eating balanced diet such as weak bones, bad skin, low energy and much more. So you can see, healthy diets are important in lots of ways.
What Is A Balanced Diet?
The key to a healthy, balanced diet is to eat a variety of foods, which for most people means eating more fruit and vegetables, more bread, cereals and potatoes, and less fatty and sugary foods. Your diet should ensure that you are getting your RDA, or Recommended Daily Allowance of nutrients. RDA is the amounts of selected nutrients considered adequate to meet the known nutrient needs of healthy people. The Food Pyramid will give you a good indication of the right kind of foods you should be eating on a daily basis.
The Food Guide Pyramid
The Food Guide Pyramid is an outline of the types of food that you should be eating as part of your daily food intake. The pyramid ensures that you are eating not only the right kind of foods, but in the right amount so your body gets the nutrients and calories to maintain a healthy weight.
How Much is One Serving?
It's great to be eating the right food but as with everything you can have too much of a good thing. Use the table below to see what makes up one serving of each group.
||Number Of Servings Daily
|Bread, Cereal, Rice, and Pasta
||1 slice of bread
1/2 cup cooked rice or pasta
1 ounce cold cereal
1/2 English muffin
||1/2 cup chopped vegetables (cooked or raw)
1 cup raw leafy vegetables
||1 serving =
1 medium-sized piece of fruit
1/2 cup cooked or canned fruit
1/2 cup fruit juice
|Milk, Yoghurt & Cheese
||1 cup milk
1 cup yoghourt
1 1/2 to 2 ounces cheese
|Meat, Poultry, Fish, Beans, Eggs, and Nuts
2-3 servings daily
|2 to 3 ounces lean meat, poultry, or fish
1 egg, 2 Tbs. peanut butter, or 1/2 cup cooked dried beans counts as 1 ounce of lean meat
Ideally intake of foods from the Fat group should be less than 30% of your daily food intake. The healthiest types of fat to choose are unsaturated fats such as sunflower oil or corn oil. The types of fat to stay away from are the saturated fats such as butter. Moderation is the key. A simple change from butter to margarine is a simple way to start cutting down on your saturated fat intake.
A healthy diet is essential if you want to lose weight for good. Why not check out our diet information or better still our diet reviews pages to see if there is a diet for you. You will see that some are more healthy than others!