A balanced diet is one of the most important components of a healthy, stress-free life. And at the same time one of the most difficult challenges for almost every person. Creating a harmonious menu is easier than it seems. The main thing is to understand the basics, in which the nutritionist Oksana Skitalinskaya will help us.
What is dietary balance
Proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals are the nutrients everyone needs. A balanced diet should include all of these macro and micro nutrients.
There are many options: for example, protein is found in eggs, cheese, meat, fish, legumes; natural dairy products, nuts, avocados, seeds are rich in fats; grains, vegetables, fruits and berries are an excellent source of “slow” carbohydrates.
It would seem that with such a variety of products it is easy to create a varied menu. The problem is that in the hectic pace of modern life, many people live in constant motion and cannot do without snacks — sandwiches, chocolate bars, pastries. Seeing no alternative and trying to stick to a healthy diet, busy people go to extremes — they completely refuse healthy foods that can be prepared quickly.
“Throwing to extremes is also a strategically wrong decision. Yes, sweets, cookies, cakes are harmful, but this is not a reason to exclude complex carbohydrates from the diet. For a full-fledged healthy life, a person needs carbohydrates, proteins, and fats — it’s just important to choose the right foods and follow the measure, ”says Oksana Skitalinskaya, a nutritionist.
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A balanced diet contains all the nutrients in certain proportions: proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Therefore, it is very important not only to be able to navigate the food groups, but also to compose your menu so that food brings pleasure.
What to replace foods that upset the balance
A typical problem with an unbalanced menu is too much fat and simple (easily digestible) carbohydrates due to quick snacks, fast food and convenience foods. But if the first is easy to fix by switching to healthy alternatives: scrambled eggs, natural yogurt, lean meats, as well as increasing the proportion of fresh vegetables in the diet, then completely and categorically eliminating sweets is quite difficult.
Actually, it’s not really necessary. There are many healthy alternatives to “classic” sweets.
A great option for those with a sweet tooth can be granola, a mix of grains with various additives like fruits, berries or nuts, baked with natural honey. Moreover, it is not at all necessary to test your culinary skills: high-quality and tasty granola can be found on sale. A great example is AXA Muesli Crispy Granola. A useful plus of these products is a large amount of fiber, which not only slows down the flow of sugar into the blood, saturates perfectly and for a long time, is very useful for the intestinal microflora, but also gives a sensation of sweetness loved by many.
In order to eat healthy, it is important to remember to balance and include as many fresh vegetables as possible in your diet, as well as some fruits. According to the recommendations of the World Health Organization, the share of vegetables and fruits in the diet should be 400 g (5 servings) per day.
Sweetness for joy
Without the sweet taste, our life would be more gray and insipid. We literally absorbed the sweet taste with sweet mother’s milk. Natural sweets, which contain fiber, help to concentrate very well and for a long time during intense mental work due to the low glycemic index.
So if you are following a healthy lifestyle with a high level of physical activity, as a sweet “bonus” choose those foods that are filled with healthy components: soluble and insoluble fiber, vitamins, minerals, fruit and berry polyphenols — and at the same time are healthy. alternative to sweets. Let fresh fruit or crunchy granola for breakfast be a pleasant way to dilute the diet, a tasty and healthy addition to a busy day.
“Healthy low-calorie sweets can be easily combined with a healthy lifestyle, if you approach things wisely, there are many options today. Keep the balance recommended for a person of your gender, age and physique.
By adhering to these simple recommendations and choosing high-quality natural products for your menu — for example, preferring AXA granola with a high content of fiber and berries to a bun — you can eat right easily and with pleasure,” emphasizes Oksana Skitalinskaya.
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The opinion of the editors may not coincide with the opinion of the author of the article.
