Eating a balanced diet is important, because it ensures proper nutrition. To eat a balanced diet each day, you need to eat a variety of foods that are included in the government's "food pyramid," and eat them in the amounts that are recommended.
Background
MedlinePlus defines a balanced diet as one that provides "the right types and amounts of foods and drinks to supply nutrition and energy for maintaining body cells, tissues, and organs, and for supporting normal growth and development." The University of Maryland Medical Center, UMMC, defines a balanced diet as one that "meets your nutritional needs while not providing too much of any nutrients."
All food consists of the three basics: proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Part of eating a balanced diet will be to eat these three basics in the best proportions for you.
Other considerations for a balanced diet will be food content such as vitamins, minerals, fiber, macronutrients, micronutrients and calories. If this is beginning to sound like something from Chemistry 101, that's because the science of nutrition very much involves chemistry. Your body breaks down the food you eat into each of its basic components so that all the cells of your body have the correct fuel with which to work.
Basics
Eating a balanced diet means eating a variety of foods from each of the basic food groups: grains, vegetables, fruits, oils, milk products and meats and beans. For the average healthy adult, eat 2 cups of fruit, 3 oz. of whole grain and 2 1/2 cups of vegetables daily, as recommended at MyPyramid.
Recommendations
Both MedlinePlus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, and UMMC advise familiarizing yourself with the information found at MyPyramid, a comprehensive online resource of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and also with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines. You'll want to obtain information beyond the rudimentary for your particular age, gender, and level of physical activity, which you can do at MyPyramid.
Expert Insight
Every five years the U.S. government publishes the most current dietary guidelines based on science to promote good nutrition, health and to reduce the risk of chronic diseases for the general population, as explained in "Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005," co-published by the USDA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
A major concern of the committee who formulated the 2005 dietary guidelines was the rise of obesity in the United States, according to UMMC. The committee, in answering to the purpose of the guidelines--to promote health and reduce risk of chronic diseases--modified the previous food pyramid to reflect food group portions in cups and ounces, rather than merely "portions per day."
Another change to the suggested balanced diet for Americans was an emphasis on whole grains and the reduction of daily oil/fat intake to minimal amounts.
Considerations
In an ideal world, there may be only one answer to what a balanced diet contains. But there are many differences between individuals: age, gender, physical condition, level of physical activity, weight, food allergies or intolerances, cultural norms and more. As you look to find the most appropriate diet plan for your individual needs, it is likely you will learn that following a balanced diet each and every day is not as difficult as you had imagined.
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