A balanced diet includes sufficient nutrients to keep your body functioning and well. Eating too much or too little of one type of nutrient, such as carbohydrates or protein, may lead to a vitamin, mineral or other nutrient deficiency. Planning meals to create a balanced diet requires understanding what nutrients you need and how to determine what foods contain which ones.
Considerations
While the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides general guidelines for calories and nutrients, based on your age, gender and activity level, you may have special dietary needs. For example, seniors should get more calcium to help prevent osteoporosis, while women will need more iron. You may have a medical condition that requires you add to or reduce certain foods in your diet. Consult with your doctor or a dietitian to determine if you need to balance your food intake with specific nutrients.
Nutrients
Divide your foods into proteins, carbohydrates or fats. Proteins come from animal products, beans and nuts. Carbohydrates come from grains, fruits and vegetables. Fats come from animal products, vegetables and nuts.
These foods contain nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, fatty acids, cholesterol, sodium and amino acids. Ensure that you get enough vitamins, minerals and other nutrients when you plan meals. Follow diets like the USDA food pyramid, Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid or Harvard School of Public Health Healthy Eating Pyramid. These diets provide recommendations for a balanced diet, and all recommend that half or more of your calories come from carbohydrates, followed by proteins and fats in near or near-equal amounts.
To get the correct daily balance of nutrients, read nutrition labels on food and beverage packaging, looking for the daily percentages of nutrients. For example, a fortified breakfast cereal nutrition label might show that one serving contains 25 percent of your daily Recommended Daily Allowance for iron.
Nutrient Concerns
The most often discussed nutrients which can cause health problems if you eat too much or too little include cholesterol, sodium, iron, calcium and fat. Too much cholesterol and fat increase your risk for coronary heart disease and stroke. Too much sodium can increase your risk for high blood pressure. Too little iron can cause anemia, and too little calcium can lead to osteoporosis. Limit cholesterol to 300 mg per day or less; fat to 65 g or less per day; and sodium to 2,400 mg or less per day. Adult women need almost twice as much iron as men -- about 18 mg per day. Adults should get 1,000 mg of calcium per day, with teens and seniors getting 1,300 mg and 1,200 mg respectively.
Calories
The USDA recommends that children between the ages of 2 and 6, inactive women and some seniors get about 1,600 calories per day. Children older than 6, teen girls, active females and inactive men should eat around 2,200 calories. Teen boys and active men should eat 2,800 calories. Based on your age, gender and activity level, you may need more calories -- check with your physician or a dietitian, consult the USDA guidelines or use an online calorie calculator to find more specific numbers for your needs.
Balanced Meal Planning
Each meal you eat does not need to contain the correct balance of nutrients you will need each day for optimal health. Balance your diet by having more protein for lunch if you had a carbohydrate-heavy breakfast. A balanced meal plan takes into consideration what you have already eaten that day, and what you will be eating later. Your meals plans should balance other meals to contribute to your final daily total of nutrients.
The USDA recommends that most of your carbohydrate calories come from whole grains, vegetables and fruits each day, with six to 11 servings of foods from grains, three to five servings of vegetables and two to four servings of fruits.
About 25 to 35 percent of your diet should come from animal products, with two to three servings of dairy products and two to three servings of protein, such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts or beans. Your fats should come from healthy sources, such as olive oil, fish and nuts.
References
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Center for Nutrition Policy & Promotion: How Much are you Eating?
- McKinley Health Center: Macronutrients: The Importance of Carbohydrate, Protein, and Fat
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Nutrition and the Health of Young People
- Office of Dietary Supplements: Iron
- Office of Dietary Supplements: Calcium
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