Balanced Diet

 Food is essential for human existence just like air or water. A living organism is the product of nutrition. Food is the raw material from which our body is made. Intake of the right kind and amount of food can ensure good health, which can be reflected in our appearance, efficiency and emotional well-being. The food we use daily is made up of a number of chemical components called nutrients. Everyone knows that good diet is needed to maintain good health. A good or adequate diet is known as balanced diet. We can say that the food that supplies all the necessary substances needed by the body is known as a balanced diet. In fact, the nutrients in the proper amount and proportion required by the body according to age, s@x, physical activities, for the proper growth, development and health comprise our balanced diet. Every individual needs a specific amount of calories from the balanced diet, as their activities differ from each other. Besides this, age, s@x, occupation, physical and mental work also affect the requirements of the balanced diet. Lack of nutrients and the absence of the balanced diet for a longer time affect the physical and mental health of a person which may cause various health problems and diseases.

Methods of Selecting the Balanced Diet

         In order to make up for the loss sometimes and also to help the body provide us with necessary strength, we need food. The foods we eat daily have become a part of us. These foods are classified into the following three categories according their function and chemical composition:

1. Energy producing nutrients                                (i) Carbohydrates

                                                                                              (ii) Fat.

2. Body building nutrients                                      (i) Protein,

                                                                                (ii) Minerals and salts.

3. Nutrients necessary for regulating the body       (i) Vitamins,

   Process.                                                                (ii) water.

                 

(a)   Energy producing nutrients: Any type of food that we eat has one of these substances mentioned above. As discussed above, among the energy producing nutrients carbohydrates from the largest component of diet of most of the people and furnish most of the required energy. It is most easily available and most economical sources of energy for human. The best sources of carbohydrates are cereals like rice, wheat, millets, maize, potato, sweet potato, sugar, honey, etc. Banana, apple and drilled fruit are also good sources of carbohydrates. Fat is the concentrated source of energy and it is important due to its highest calorie density. The chief dietary sources of fat are ghee, butter, cream, oil, milk, fat from meat and vegetables oils, like- groundnut, mustard, sunflower, soyabean.

(b)   Body building nutrients: The second important group of nutrients consists of protein and minerals and salt. Protein are present in all living tissues of plants and animals. Protein is a tissue builder, and important for the growth. Wear and tear of the tissue is repaired by the protein. The dietary sources of protein are egg, milk, milk products, meat, fish, liver, pulses, cereals, nuts, beans, gram, green leafy vegetables, etc. whereas, minerals and salts are essential for the maintenance and growth of the body. The dietary sources of minerals and salts are fresh and dried fish, dark green vegetables, dried beans, dried fruits, milk, milk products, potatoes, almonds, cheese, liver, kidney, yolk of egg, onion, common salt, carrot, radish, spinach, cabbage, cauliflower, red gram.

(c)    Nutrients necessary for regulating the body process: The third important group of foods is nutrients necessary for regulating the body process and protection. This group consists of vitamins and water. Vitamins are essential in our daily life in order to maintain life, normal growth and optimum health development. The dietary  sources of vitamins are: liver, yolk of egg, milk, fish, cod liver oil, butter, ghee, sunlight, cereal embryos, peanut, green leaves of plants, wheat germ oil, cabbage, carrot, tomato, pork, curds, lemon, pineapple, papaya, mango, orange, amla, etc. water forms the major part of blood, the intra-cellular and body fluid. Water is injected through food and drinking.

               Food is essential but must be safe and balanced. We may select our food    items according to our needs, choice, economic status, and on the basis of availability. It is not necessary that we select costly and imported food items. We may balance our food from selection of locally available food products.