There are five characteristics of a healthy diet. The five characteristics include: adequacy, balance, calorie control, moderation, and variety. Each characteristic will provide individuals with a well balanced nutritious diet to promote long-range health. Maintaining a healthy diet is essential to living a long healthy life.
Adequacy
Adequacy helps people identify the right type of foods that contain the six essential nutrients. For example, Calcium would be identified under the minerals category of the six essential nutrients. Calcium helps build strong bones and muscles. A good source of calcium would be milk. However, some people might be lactose intolerant. In this case, they might want to try milks that are lactose free but still offer a good amount of calcium.
Balance
It is essential to balance the nutrients that the body is receiving. Individuals might want to keep track of their food choices and note the amount of nutrients in each food. A food journal will help tremendously when tracking the amount of foods that are being ingested daily. The journal will also provide the individual with a record when it is time to see the doctor. Doctor's love food journals because it helps them preview your lifestyle, and it makes it easier for them to suggest changes to the diet to better serve you.
Calorie Control
This characteristic helps maintain a healthy weight. An individual must distinguish between foods that will help provide the right amount of energy to help maintain a healthy weight (Sizer and Whitney, 2013). When people indulge themselves with too many calories, the body will be unable to use all the nutrients and this will result in the storage of fat. Overtime this process will lead to weight gain and eventually obesity. One way to avoid over indulgence of calories would be to begin counting calories. A person can enter this information into their food journal for easy tracking.
The following is a website that includes seven low-calorie breakfast ideas:
Moderation
I have always been told that you can pretty much eat any food within moderation. It is important that if you do cave and crave something sweet, that you do so in moderation. For example, if someone was craving peanut butter, they might choose to buy Jiff Reduced Fat Peanut Butter instead of regular Jiff. The Jiff Reduced Fat Peanut butter contains only twelve grams of fat, while the regular Jiff contains sixteen. Again, even though the reduced fat peanut butter might have less grams of fat, it is still important to only eat this food in moderation. Over indulgence of peanut butter will lead to excessive amounts of calories and eventually weight gain.
Variety
It is especially important to change the types of foods that are consumed on a daily basis. Variety helps individuals receive an adequate amount of nutrients from different foods instead of only consuming a specific nutrient repeatedly. Variety also aids in maintaining a healthy diet in regards to food selection. When a person eats the same foods repeatedly, they will become bored and might resort to an unhealthy food selection. An example of a varied diet might include eating a different item everyday of the week for lunch, or changing the contents of an afternoon snack.
Challenges of Choosing the Right Foods
Individuals face many unhealthy options on a daily basis. Fast food chains are abundant, quick, easy, and cheap. I have to admit, some nights it would be so much simpler for me to stop by Sonic and pick up dinner than to have to go home, make dinner, and clean up dishes. However, the challenges of creating healthy meals for my family are worth it in order to avoid health issues in the future. My husband always tells me that the dirty dishes will be there tomorrow, and he is right.
Reference
Photos Retrieved from Google.
Sizer, F. &
Whitney, E. (2013). Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies (13thed.).
Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
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