Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Healthy Eating And A Balanced Diet

fruit vegetables

Everyone is constantly told by the press, doctors and the government here in the UK that healthy eating is very important. People generally live much longer now than they did fifty years ago. On average people also grow taller and weigh more.


The amount and variety of food available today is the greatest ever. And many food items are much cheaper than they used to be. Food provides material that our bodies can convert into heat and energy and can use to grow and repair internal systems.


Food is made up of various amounts of carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamins mineral salt and fibre. A balanced diet must contain all of these nutrients in the correct proportions.


Lack of any one will affect the body in different ways. Lack of fibre will lead to poor digestion, lack of vitamins poor health,the lack of mineral salts will give you bad teeth and poor bones,the lack of carbohydrate will result in low energy levels, the lack of protein poor growth and health and the lack of fat will give you poor health and low energy levels.


If we eat more food than our bodies require, the excess amounts will, increase the weight that we have to carry, create an imbalance of chemicals in our bodies and build up fat that is stored in our bodies. This can lead to problems such as obesity, joint problems diabetes, high blood pressure heart and thyroid problems.


amounts fruit

Do you know in the UK 65% of men and 56% of women are either overweight or obese. This is a form of malnutrition, although this term is more often used to describe people who do not have sufficient food to eat. Good nutrition is vital to good health. Poor nutrition is a recognised cause of ill-health and premature death.


In the UK an estimated one third of cancers can be attributed to poor diet and nutrition. While there is a high awareness of healthy eating, most people consume less than the recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables, but more than the recommended amounts of fat, salt and sugar.


In general people would be more healthy if they increased the amount of fruit and vegetables they eat, increase the amount of fibre and reduced the amount of salt, sugar and saturated fats.


Including the following items in your daily diet can improve your health. Generous amounts of fruit and vegetables which are an excellent source of vitamins, minerals and fibre, moderate amounts of meat, fish and dairy products, small amounts of fats and oils and whole grain items such as oats,wheat and cereals.

healthy eating

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