Medical experts recommend that you follow a healthy eating plan to stay in good health and keep body weight in check. But with so many commercial diets circulating that claim to be your route to perfect nutrition, it can be difficult to ascertain the real definition of a "nutritious diet." A healthy eating plan gives you all of your essential nutrients and few or none of those that can harm your health when consumed in excess. Portion-controlled, nutritious meals are also your ticket to weight loss.
Essential Nutrients
The essential nutrients you need to keep your body in top form include proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals and water. Each nutrient serves a specific function. Your body processes carbohydrates into glucose that you need for energy. Protein provides the building blocks you need to maintain and repair your body's muscles and tissues. Your body needs vitamins and minerals, including trace minerals such as sodium, to perform more specific and intricate processes. Vitamin D, for example, is the helpmate of the essential mineral calcium. Vitamin D encourages calcium absorption so you can build and maintain strong bones and teeth.
Disease Prevention
A healthy eating plan is requisite if you want to avoid eating too much of the wrong nutrients. Sodium, fats and dietary cholesterol are a double-edged sword in the nutrient world; you need some of these for good health, but consuming too much of them can put your health at risk. Excess sodium is linked to hypertension, and saturated and trans fats contribute to high blood cholesterol. The American Heart Association recommends you cap your sodium intake at less than 1,500 mg daily. Restrict your total fat intake to less than 25 to 35 percent of your daily calories, and make sure you get no more than 7 and 1 percent of your calories from saturated and trans fats, respectively. Focus on healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats found in fish, nuts, seeds and plant-based oils.
Weight Management
A healthy eating plan supports weight management -- or weight loss, if you need to shed excess body weight. When designing your meals and snacks, it's important to keep discretionary calories low. The United States Department of Agriculture explains that discretionary calories are those you get from fatty, sugar-dense foods, as well as alcohol. Discretionary calories are essentially those you have left over after you eat a healthy diet. Most physically-inactive Americans have far fewer discretionary calories than they realize -- between 100 and 300 daily.
Experts Recommend
The American diet places emphasis on consumption of unhealthy foods, such as processed meats laden with saturated fat, salty snacks and sugary beverages, such as soft drinks, says the Harvard School of Public Health. Strive for a diet rich in non-starchy, plant-based foods, such as vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Choose lean proteins, such as fish and skinless poultry, and fat-free dairy foods. The USDA's Food Guide Pyramid helps you better understand what goes into a healthy eating plan -- as well as how many servings of each food type is recommended based on your gender, age and level of physical activity.
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