A nutritious diet has five characteristics.
Adequacy: The dietary characteristic of providing all of the essential nutrients, fiber, and energy in amounts sufficient to maintain health and body weight. Any nutrient could be used to demonstrate the importance of dietary adequacy. Iron provides a familiar example. It is essential nutrient (meaning the body can’t produce iron on its own, so we must get it from foods): you lose some every day, so you have to keep replacing it; and you can get it into your body only by eating foods that contain it. If you eat too few of the iron-containing foods, you can develop iron-deficiency anemia: with anemia you may feel weak, tired, cold, sad, and unenthusiastic; you may have frequent headaches; and you can do very little muscular work without disabling fatigue.
Balance: The dietary characteristic of providing foods of a number of types in proportion to each other, such that foods rich in some nutrients do not crowd out the diets foods that are rich in other nutrients. To appreciate the importance of dietary balance, consider a second essential nutrient, calcium. A diet lacking calcium causes poor bone development during the growing years and increases a person’s susceptibility to disabling bone loss in adult life. Most foods that are rich in iron are poor in calcium. Calcium’s richest food sources are milk and milk products, which happen to be extraordinarily poor iron sources. Clearly, to obtain enough of both iron and calcium, people have to balance their food choices among the types of foods that provide specific nutrients. Balancing the whole diet to provide enough but not too much of every one of the 40-odd nutrients the body needs for health requires considerable juggling.
Calorie Control: Energy intakes should not exceed energy needs. Nicknamed calorie control, this diet characteristic ensures that energy intakes from food balance energy expenditures required for body functions and physical activity. Eating such a diet helps to control body fat content and weight. In short calorie in VS calorie out.
Moderation: Intakes of certain food components such as fat, cholesterol, sugar, and salt should be limited for health’s sake. A major guideline for healthy people is to keep fat intake below 35% of total calories. Some people take this to mean that they must never indulge in a delicious beefsteak or hot-fudge sundae, but they are misinformed: moderation, not total abstinence, is the key. A steady diet of steak and icecream might be harmful, but once a week as part of an otherwise moderate diet plan, these foods may have little impact; as once-a-month treats, these foods would have practically no effect at all. Moderation also means that limits are necessary, even for desirable food components. For example, a certain amount of fiber in foods contributes to the health of the digestive system, but too much fiber leads to nutrient losses.
Variety: As for variety, nutrition scientists agree that people should not eat the same foods, even highly nutritious ones, day after day. One reason is that a varied diet is more likely to be adequate in nutrients. In addition, some less-well-known nutrients and phytochemicals could be important to health and some foods may be unknown better sources of these than others. Another reason is that a monotonous diet may deliver large amounts of toxins or contaminants. Such undesirable compounds in one food are diluted by all the other foods eaten with it and are diluted still further if the food is not eaten again for several days. Last, variety adds interest - trying new foods can be a source of pleasure.
If you establish the habit of using all of the principles just described, you will find that choosing a healthful diet becomes as automatic as brushing your teeth or falling asleep.
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