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A healthy diet is one that helps to maintain or improve overall
health. A healthy diet contains a balance of food groups and all the
nutrients necessary to promote good health.
Healthy
eating is the practice of making choices about what to eat and how much one
eats with the intention of sustaining healthy living.
Healthy
diets provide the body with the essential nutrition; fluid; adequate essential
amino acids from proteins, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and
adequate calories.
Healthy
diets also supports energy needs and provides for human nutrition without
exposure to toxicity or excessive weight gain from consuming excessive amounts
where the lack of calories is not an issue.
A
properly balanced diet(in addition exercise) also thought to be important for
lowering healthy risks, such as obesity, heart disease, type2 diabetes, hypertension
and cancer.
The
concept of healthy eating is primarily a problem in rich countries where the
lifestyle includes, outdoor physical activities, high but not always
high-quality food consumption and a trend towards industrially produced foods
instead of locally-sourced and locally-prepared meals.
Moreover,
various nutrition guides are published by medical and governmental institutions
to educate the public health on what they should be eating to promote their
health and also to sustain a healthy living.
In
some countries today, nutritional facts labels are also mandatory to allow
consumers to choose between foods based on the component relevant to healthy
which is considered to be very helpful as it can lead to sustainability of good
health.
Furthermore,
the World Health Organisation (WHO) makes the following recommendations which
are also required in sustaining healthy living with respect to both populations
and individuals which includes;
•Eat roughly the same
amount of calories that your body is using and maintain a healthy weight.
•limit intake of fats and
prefer unsaturated fats to saturated fats.
-limit
the intake of sugar.
A
2003 WHO report commends less than 10 per cent of calorie intake from simple
sugars.
•Limit salt consumption
from all sources and ensure that salt is iodized.
•Essential micronutrients
such as vitamins and certain minerals.
•Avoid directly poisonous
(for example, heavy metals) and carcinogenic
•WHO also recommends an
intake of less than five grams of salt per day for the prevention of
cardiovascular disease.
In
addition to dietary recommendations for general population there are many
specific diets that have primarily been developed to promote better health in
specific population groups such as people with high blood pressure to people
who are obese or overweight. In some cases of hypertension, a low diet is
beneficial for people with high blood pressure.
Low
sodium has a useful effect to reduce high blood pressure, both in people with
hypertension and in people with normal pressure. The consumption of nuts, whole
grains, fish, poultry, fruits and vegetables should be encouraged while the
consumption of red meats, sweets and sugar should be reduced.
