What is a balanced diet? We might have answered this question on numerous occasions while appearing for examinations in school. However, when the need to practically follow the definition of a balanced diet in real life comes, more often than not, it hardly works out.
City-based premier food research institute – National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) has defined a balanced diet as ‘one which provides all the nutrients in required amounts and proper proportions’. A balanced diet can be achieved by blending four basic groups that include cereals, millets and pulses, vegetable and fruits, milk and milk products, egg, meat and fish and the last food group being oils, fats, nuts and oilseeds.
“A nutritionally adequate diet comes from a wise choice of a variety of foods. The trick is to make sure that one consumes a variety of food because no single food will supply 40 different nutrients that are required for good health. Daily selection should contain a combination of all the food groups,” says scientist, NIN, K. Damayanthi.
The senior scientist, who frequently holds counselling sessions on nutrition at NIN, feels that an erratic eating pattern plays a big role in preventing people from following a balanced diet.
Excessive eating
The researcher points out that people tend to eat to the point of being stuffed rather than content and almost all of us eat the biggest meal of the day during dinner when the calorific needs and activity is least.
Roughly, according to the dietary guidelines of NIN, a balanced diet should provide around 50 to 60 per cent of total calories from carbohydrates, preferably from complex carbohydrates, about 10 to 15 per cent from proteins and 20 to 30 per cent from both visible and invisible fat.
According to nutritional researchers, a balanced diet should also contain non-nutrients like dietary fibre, which are found in oats, legumes, fruits like apples, pears and oranges. Antioxidants from spices like turmeric, ginger, garlic, cumin and cloves and Vitamins C and E also should be a part of the daily diet for all age groups.
For diabetics
Researchers point out diabetics must be doubly careful while trying to strike the right balance.
“Broadly, diabetics should avoid salt, sugar, fat, whole milk products, white flour (maida) and food with high carbohydrate content like white rice, potatoes, carrots, bread and banana. These food products are known to increase the blood sugar levels,” says Dr. Damayanthi.
Bitter Gourd (karela), Fenugreek (methi) and cinnamon powder are recommended foods that are beneficial for diabetics. Researchers point out that in addition to maintaining a balanced diet, sticking to a daily exercise routine is mandatory to avoid a sedentary lifestyle.
Reporting by
M. Sai Gopal
