Eating healthy not only ensures a better attitude towards life. Eating a balanced diet can also help prevent certain diseases. A few basic rules will help you eat well and wholesomely.
Why Is A Wholesome Diet So Important?
Eating and drinking are an important cultural part of our lives and contribute significantly to our well-being. If the diet is also balanced, it can help ensure that we are more productive, get sick less often and lead a happier life.
The basis for this is a sensible and, above all, varied selection of the foods that we eat every day. In addition, we should prepare food gently and low in fat and consciously enjoy meals – freed from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Because mindful, enjoyable eating is healthy eating: It ensures better digestion and absorption of the vitamins and minerals that the body needs for a functioning immune system and a healthy metabolism.
Eat Well? The Food Pyramid As a Guide
It is not always easy to eat a balanced diet because there is a vast selection of readily available snacks, ready meals, fast food, and takeaway meals. We often fall back on such offers and forget that fresh, healthy food is not much work. A light salad or a pasta dish with vegetables, for example, can be prepared in a short time.
But what is a healthy diet? With so many trends touted in the media, it’s easy to become confused.
A good starting point is the food pyramid. It lists eight food groups on six levels, from base to top:
- Beverages such as water, unsweetened teas, heavily diluted juices
- Vegetables, salads, and legumes
- fruit
- Bread and grain products such as pasta and dumplings
- Milk and milk products such as cheese, butter, yogurt
- Animal foods such as meat, fish, sausage, and eggs
- Fats and oils
- Extras such as sweets, nibbles, alcoholic beverages
The levels show which foods we prefer and should limit: the healthier and more critical the respective food group, the further down the pyramid it is. Plain water, water-diluted juices, and unsweetened tea provide the foundation—demonstrating that fluid intake is the bulk of a healthy diet, quantitatively speaking.
Fruit and vegetables come one step up the pyramid, followed by grain products with the highest possible proportion of whole grains. Then follow dairy products, meat, and fish. And at the top are the foods that should make up the smallest part of the diet: fats, sweets, salty snacks, and finally, alcoholic beverages.
As Fresh And Varied As Possible
Fresh fruits and vegetables should have a special place in our diet. But how much fruit and vegetables do we need? Here is a rule of thumb: 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day provide the body with critical vital substances: vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants that strengthen the cardiovascular system and help prevent diseases. The measured value for a portion is, for example, an apple/banana, a handful of steamed vegetables, or fresh berries.
Colorful vegetables should ideally be on the plate every day. Kale, for example, provides a lot of vitamin C, which strengthens the immune system. Spinach has valuable vitamins, minerals, and iron. Legumes such as lentils and beans are also a good choice because they provide essential minerals and fill you up for a long time with their fiber.
It also determines how healthy a snack or dish is. Ready meals and fast food often hide large amounts of salt, sugar, and unhealthy fats. If you cook for yourself instead, you have more control over eating healthy. Prepared dishes made from fresh ingredients contain significantly more vitamins and minerals than heavily processed dishes.
Also Read: Diet: The Effect Of Eating Low-Meat
