A Healthy Guide to Good Nutrition

Maintaining the correct nutrition helps you to reduce the risk of a complex myriad of health-related problems, the most frightening of which are most certainly heart diseases, lung diseases, bone diseases and cancer. Proper nutrition means that you must eat many different foods, monitor your consumption of some food and beverage items, and count your calories or kilojoules.  Good, healthy and nutritious diets will offer you a balanced nutrition that reduces cholesterol, blood pressure, and helps with weight control.

In order for your body to function properly,
it must have the correct combination of the following nutrients:

Carbohydrates

They are your primary source of energy, for your physiological processes, in your diet. The body uses these carbohydrates to build up glucose molecules, which can be readily used immediately or stored in your body for later use. Too much glucose, however, is stored as fat within the body. There are two types of carbohydrates – simple and complex. Sugars are simple carbohydrates. Starches and fibres are complex carbohydrates.

Proteins

Proteins often help your body build and maintain muscles and other tissues. They also function in the creation of various hormones and neurochemicals for the body. Like carbohydrates, excess protein is also stored as fat. Animal and vegetable proteins are the two major types of proteins. Too much animal protein can result in you having high cholesterol, because it is high in saturated fat.

Fat

As strange as it may seem; fat is another nutrient your body requires. It comes in both saturated and unsaturated forms. Saturated fat puts you at risk of some very serious health problems; whereas unsaturated fat is healthy, but if it goes through any type of refinement process, it can become saturated fat.

Vitamins

Different vitamins perform different tasks within the body. They work with the metabolism to help with energy levels for any task you can think of that you need your body to perform. It has also been noted that certain vitamins can prevent disease.

For example, vitamins A, C, and E, also known as antioxidants, can assist with the prevention of coronary artery disease by keeping plaque and fat cells from building up on artery walls. Vitamin B-1 is needed for digestion and proper nervous system function. Vitamin B-2 is needed for normal cell growth. Vitamin B-3 helps to detoxify your body. Folic acid assists with production of red blood cells. Vitamin D assists with the absorption of calcium. Vitamin K helps your blood clot.

Minerals and trace elements

Both of these are used in many different body processes. Minerals like chlorine help make your digestive juices. Phosphorus helps build strong bones. Both can be found in the foods we consume, but with a trace element, your body just needs a tiny amount. Salt is one final nutrient your body requires. You should not consume more than 2400 milligrams per day, though, as it might raise your blood pressure.

You should follow several guidelines to create a well-balanced, nutritional diet. First, try to consume two and one half cups of vegetables and two cups of fruit each day. When making your selections for each day, be sure to choose a good variety. A good rough guide is to eat as many different colours as possible, this will help you to select from all five vegetable subgroups at least four times per week.

You should eat at least 85 grams of whole grain products each day. At least half of your grain intake should be whole grain based. Milk should also be part of a healthy diet. Recommended intake of milk is 500-750ml. Fat should consist of 20-35% of total energy. Recommendations will depend on age or medical conditions present. Most of the fats you consume should be in the form of unsaturated fats, as saturated fats can do much to damage your health. Meat, poultry, dry beans, and milk or milk products should all be lean, low-fat, or fat-free. Less than ten percent of your kilojoules should come from saturated fats, and you should always try to avoid trans-fatty acid.

Fibre-rich fruits, vegetables and whole grains should be a regular part of your diet as should potassium rich foods. Alcoholic beverages should only be consumed in moderation.

Excellent nutrition is the basis of a healthy diet.