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.
