Feeling young and healthy is the most important preoccupation of people of all ages and types. Making conscious decisions about what to eat and how to eat has a great impact on our health and appearance. Eating a healthy, balanced diet is the only way to achieve health and youthful appearance for everyone. It is an indisputable fact that a right diet having a high nutritional value benefits you irrespective of who you are and what age you are.

What is a Balanced Diet? A right diet is balanced in its calorie value as well as in the composition of water, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, vitamins, sugars and fatty acids. In other words, a balanced diet includes all essential components of food nutrients required for proper nutrition of our body. A balanced diet includes carbohydrates, proteins, fiber, fat, sugar, minerals and vitamins in balanced proportions. For fulfilling our requirements for carbohydrates we need to focus on a diet based on starchy foods such as rice, potatoes, and root vegetables. For protein, we need to eat protein- rich foods like meat, fish, pulses and lentils and protein-rich vegetables. For vitamins and minerals, we must eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.

When we include fiber-rich vegetables such as okra and leafy greens and fruits and nuts in our diet, our daily need for dietary fiber may be fulfilled.

Balanced diet means eating a wide variety of foods in the right proportions. It is better to avoid ready-to-eat meals and processed foods as they contain high levels of fat, added sugar and salt. A balanced diet avoids over-consumption of fat, sugar and salt.

There are basically FIVE food groups. These are:

  1. Carbohydrates: Starchy foods, such as rice, pasta, bread, root vegetables, cassava, and potatoes are an important part of healthy diet. They are a good source of energy and the main source of a range of food nutrients in our diet. Starchy foods should make minimum one third of the amount of your daily diet
  2. Protein: Meat, fish, eggs, pulses and beans; and milk and dairy foods and protein-rich vegetables are important source of protein. Protein is essential for growth and repair of the body. Around 15 per cent of the calories that we eat each day should come from protein-rich foods. Pulses and protein-rich vegetables are good source of vegetarian protein. Meat and fish are non-vegetarian protein sources
  3. Vitamins and Minerals: Fruits, nuts and vegetables
  4. Fat and Sugar: Foods containing fat and sugar
  5. Dietary Fiber: Whole grains, fruits and vegetables

Significance of Fruit and Vegetable Diet: Fruit and vegetables are a vital source of vitamins and minerals. Your ideal consumption should be at least five portions of different varieties of fruits and vegetables every day. Scientific researches reveal that people who consume at least five portions of fruits and vegetables per day are at lower risk of heart diseases, stroke and some cancers.

A balanced diet includes at least FIVE small portions of fruits and vegetables per day. Fruits and vegetables may be consumed as salads, juices, desserts, dried fruits and vegetables, and any other forms of fruit and vegetable preparation. Fruits and vegetables are rich source of dietary fiber. High fiber foods is good for weight loss as they take long time to get digested and also make you feel full for a long period of time. Dietary fiber is essential for maintaining a healthy digestive system: High fiber food aids in digestion, cures constipation, lowers blood cholesterol, cleanses the gastrointestinal tract and may reduce the risk of developing diabetes and colorectal cancer.

Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins and minerals. Minerals are essential elements that are required by a human body in minute quantities to perform its metabolic functions as well as for healthy growth and development. We need vitamins in small quantities for healthy living and staying fit. Vitamins are required to regulate body metabolism and tissue building. Requirement of vitamins increases with the increase in age. Insufficient amount of vitamins in the body results in vitamin deficiency diseases. Minerals such as potassium, calcium, sodium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, chlorine etc help in body fluid movement and tissue building. When a human body does not have sufficient amount of minerals, its deficiency is manifested in human body as diseases.

There are fat-soluble and water-soluble vitamins

  • Fat-soluble vitamins: Vitamin A, D, E, and K (ADEK) are fat-soluble vitamins. That means, surplus consumption of these vitamins gets deposited in body fat and therefore daily consumption of these vitamins are not required
  • Water-soluble vitamins: Vitamin B and C are known water-soluble vitamins. Body cannot store water soluble vitamins such as vitamin B and Vitamin C and therefore any surplus amount is eliminated from body through urine. Daily consumption of these vitamins is essential to stay healthy and young. Water-soluble vitamins may get destroyed while cooking. Hence vegetables containing vitamin B and Vitamin C must be cooked by steaming or grilling rather than by boiling or deep frying

Fruits and vegetables are rich in antioxidants: An antioxidant is a substance that inhibits oxidation, especially that of free radicals. Free radicals are chemically unstable molecular fragments or atoms that have a charge due to excess or deficient number of electrons and are directly responsible for cell degeneration and resultant ageing process in human beings. The immediate tendency of free radicals, as soon as they are formed, is to become stable by reacting with cellular components (for example: DNA) or cell membrane. The result is DNA damage, malignant tumour formation (cancer), diabetes, cataract, heart diseases and other cell degenerative diseases. Hence regular consumption of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables is recommended for overall bodily health.

Different Types of Antioxidants: Polyphenolic compounds or polyphenols are a large group of antioxidants comprising of flavonoids, carotenoids, and anthocyanins

  1. Flavonoids: These are chemical compounds that plants produce to protect themselves from cell damage. Flavonoids reduce cell inflammation, improve memory and concentration, and increase body’s immunity
  2. Anthocyanins: These are a subgroup of flavonoids
  3. Carotenoids: There are about 600 types of carotenoids known till date. Some of these are alpha carotene, beta carotene, lycopene, cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin, and lutein. Beta carotene is the most studied carotenoids and is a precursor of Vitamin A. Tomatoes are rich in lycopene and carrots are rich in beta carotene

 Recommended Quantity of Fruit and Vegetable Portion Per Meal:

  1. Fruit portion per meal: One large fruit such as an apple, pear, banana, orange etc Or Two smaller fruits such as plum, kiwis, satsumas, etc Or One cup of small fruits such as grapes, strawberries, raspberries, etc Or One glass of fresh fruit juice(150ml)
  2. Vegetable portion per meal: 2-3 tablespoons of any vegetable preparation

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