The need for a nutritious diet
A balanced diet comprising of healthy and varied foods is key to a good health. After all, we are what we eat. Eating healthy food promotes good health and unhealthy food habits lead to a diseased body. Foods contain vital nutrients that aid our body’s metabolic function.

Since no single food group can nourish the body with all the vital ingredients it requires, it is important that we consume a variety of healthy foods to derive the nutrition our body needs.

There are five main food groups, they are:

•   Fruits
•   Vegetables
•   Cereals and Pulses
•   Dairy
•   Poultry, Fish and Meat products

A healthy balanced diet of these five food groups ensures essential vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber. The food group serving size will depend upon various factors like age, activity level, body size and gender. It is also important that one eat a variety of foods from within and across the food groups.

Start the Day Right - Don't Skip Breakfast
Our nutritionists will show you that children who eat breakfast do better in school. It doesn't take much further thought to realize adults will feel better and perform better at work as well. Whether you work at home, on the farm, at the office, at school, or on the road, it is not a good idea to skip breakfast. Eating a good breakfast sets the tone for the rest of the day.

When you skip breakfast, you are likely to become tired when your brain and body run low on fuel. By mid-morning, you might grab a cup of coffee or wolf down a sugary candy bar to wake up again. This might work for a few minutes, but by lunch time you are hungry, crabby, and perhaps your mood might make you a little more prone to make unhealthy choices at lunch.

Many people believe that they will lose weight if they skip meals, but that just isn't true; the body expects to be refueled after a gap of 8-10 hours - with breakfast.

Food the essential factor
To live we have to eat. But what we eat also affects our ability to keep healthy, do work, to be happy and to live well. Knowledge of what to eat and in what quantities is a prerequisite to the healthy and happy life.

Nutrition is the science that deals with all the various factors of which food is composed and the way in which proper nourishment is brought about. The average nutritional requirements of groups of people are fixed and depend on such measurable characteristics such as age, sex, height, weight, degree of activity and rate of growth.

A Protein rich diet

Protein is an essential nutrient that is important to your health. Protein consists of chains of amino acids that are used by our bodies to grow muscles, hair, nails, skin and internal organs. Diets rich in high protein foods are often recommended for athletes and body builders. In addition, many weight loss diets such as the Atkins diet prescribe a high protein, low carbohydrate diet.

Although protein is an essential nutrient, some research suggests that too much protein can increase the risk of developing heart disease, stroke, kidney stones and osteoporosis.

Common protein rich foods are:

•   Milk
•   Soy Milk
•   Eggs
•   Cheese
•   Yogurt
•   Peanut Butter
•   Lean Meats, Fish, and Poultry
•   Beans, Tofu, Lentils, and other Legumes
•   Grains, including bread and pasta
•   Nuts and Seeds

Carbohydrates: Yes or No?

Don't be misled by fad diets that make blanket pronouncements on the dangers of carbohydrates. They provide the body with fuel it needs for physical activity and for proper organ function, and they are an important part of a healthy diet. But some kinds of carbohydrates are far better than others.

The best sources of carbohydrates—whole grains, vegetables, fruits and beans—promote good health by delivering vitamins, minerals, fiber, and a host of vital nutrients. Easily digested carbohydrates from white bread, white rice, pastries, sugared sodas, and other highly processed foods may contribute to weight gain, interfere with weight loss, and promote diabetes and heart disease

There are three common types of Carbohydrates in foods: Sugar, Starch and Dietary fiber.

Sugar is one of the most common ingredients in processed food. In fact, about half our sugar consumption comes from invisible sugar inside foods like fruits - rather than sugar we add. The main sugar-carb culprits are sodas, cakes, cookies and candy.

Starch is found in plant-based foods, especially cereals, bread, potatoes, legumes (beans), pasta and rice, and also in some fruits, vegetables, and in the roots and stem pith of plants.

Fiber cannot be converted to glucose and contributes no calories to our diet. But Fiber is important because it has an influence on the digestion process from start to finish:

•   It demands that food be more thoroughly chewed, fiber slows down the eating process and helps contribute      to a feeling of being full, which in turn can help prevent obesity from overeating.
•   Fiber makes food more satisfying, probably because the contents of the stomach are bulkier and stay there      longer.
•   Fiber slows digestion and absorption so that glucose (sugar) in food enters the bloodstream more slowly,      which keeps blood sugar on a more even level.
•   Fiber is broken down in the colon by bacteria and the simple organic acids produced by this breakdown helps       to nourish the lining of the colon.
•   These acids also provide fuel for the rest of the body, especially the liver, and may have an important role in       metabolism

The best way to get enough fiber is to eat a variety of higher-fiber whole foods, like fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds and beans.
So just don’t say no to Carbohydrates, choose the good ones.
Fats: To eat or not to eat

Like carbohydrates, fats contain the elements that are used as a source of energy. They are also stored beneath the skin helping to insulate us against the cold. Do not think that by avoiding fat in your diet you will stay thin and elegant! If you eat too much carbohydrate and protein, you will convert some of it into fat, so you will put on weight. You must balance the amount of energy containing foods with the amount of energy that you use when you take exercise.

We should try to limit our intake of saturated fats as they contribute to weight gain and a raised cholesterol level. These are mainly found in the fat on meat, lard, and the fat in dairy products such as butter, full cream and milk. They are often used in processed foods, and in commercially made cakes, biscuits and pastries

Unsaturated fats are good fats as they are less likely to raise your cholesterol level.
These mainly come from vegetables, nuts and fruits, polyunsaturated fats such as sunflower and corn oil, and monounsaturated fats such as olive oil and rapeseed oil.

Not all fat is bad! Although all fats are high in calories, we need some fat in our diet, and some types of fat are actually good for our health.

And if it is all that bad, why is it part of our natural diet chain? Despite it’s many adverse affects, fat does contribute to many important body functions. It provides the body with essential fatty acids needed for normal reproduction and growth, as well as for production of a compound that helps regulate blood pressure, blood clotting, and inflammation. On a practical level, fat cushions bones and vital organs, protects the body from extreme temperatures, and serves as an important energy reserve.

The Boosters: Vitamins and Minerals
Vitamins are substances that your body needs to grow and develop normally. There are 13 vitamins your body needs and you can usually get all your vitamins from the foods you eat. Your body can also make vitamins D and K. People who eat a vegetarian diet may need to take a vitamin B12 supplement.

If you have low levels of certain vitamins, you may develop a deficiency disease. For example, if you don't get enough vitamin D, you could develop rickets.

Whereas vitamins are organic substances (made by plants or animals), minerals are inorganic elements that come from the soil and water and are absorbed by plants or eaten by animals. Your body needs larger amounts of some minerals, such as calcium, to grow and stay healthy.

The best way to get enough vitamins and minerals is to eat a balanced diet with a variety of foods. In some cases, you may need to take additional multivitamins for optimal health. However, excess of some vitamins can make you sick.

Simple tips to follow:

•   Eat small meals at frequent intervals. Avoiding both starving and binging. need.
•   Avoid simple sugars and processed carbohydrates. Choose whole cereals or whole wheat products and avoid      white flour and its products as far as possible. Eat healthy, mostly unprocessed foods, including fruit,      vegetables, whole grains and legumes. This also includes fiber in your diet which makes you feel full soon and      also moves fat through our digestive system faster so that less of it is absorbed.
•   Consume at least 8-9 servings of fruits and vegetables including 1 green leafy vegetable daily.
•   Eating salads is a healthy option, but don’t replace your meals only with salads, and be careful with salad      dressings, mayonnaise, and other condiments that are high in fat content. They greatly increase the calorie      count and can negate the healthy aspects of a meal.
•   Avoid too much of deep fried, oily or fried foods. Include good proteins in the form of pulses, sprouts, milk,      eggs, fish, and lean meats or de skinned chicken.
•   The most important nutrient that is always forgotten is water. Drink sufficient water daily to keep yourself well      hydrated.
•   Keep in mind ‘fat free’ or ‘sugar free’ products do not mean calorie free. Make sure to read the food labels      before any food item you consume. Be an aware customer.
•   Physical activity or exercise is a very important criterion to remain fit and lose weight. Just a simple brisk walk      for 40-45 minutes or stretching exercises for lower body will help. Exercise makes it possible to create a calorie      deficit and lose weight without starving your body and slowing your metabolism.

End result

It must be noted that medicine treats the symptoms rather than the root cause of the disease, which is usually caused by wrong eating habits leading to an accumulation of toxins within the system. A nutritious diet can rectify underlying causes of diseases and restore one to wholeness of mind and body. Once we realize the connection between a wholesome balanced diet and good health, our food will be our medicine and maintaining good health will be a matter of making the right food choices and leading a healthy lifestyle.