Your weight and your health can be influenced by your diet, through deficiencies and overconsumption of nutrients as well as through optimal nutrition. You make the call when you select, cook, serve and eat foods from day to day. Will you build strong muscles, bones and teeth? Will you keep your vital organs in top working order? Will you enjoy good eyesight, digestion, reproductive capability and mobility for as long as you possibly can? With the right nutrition, the answer is more likely to be "yes."
Which Nutrients You Should Emphasize
The USDA reports that a balanced diet, or one drawn from all the food groups, provides optimal nutrition for growth and development, as well as proper functioning of all the systems of the body. Among the dozens of essential nutrients, those most in need of emphasis in American diets are calcium, potassium, vitamin D and dietary fiber. You also need to get adequate protein, fatty acids, vitamins A, B, C E and K magnesium, iron and other minerals every day. Read the FDA nutrition facts on food labels to choose foods that will build your daily values, or DVs, of these nutrients.
Which Nutrients You Should Limit
To achieve a balanced diet, you must avoid overloading on common nutrients that can harm your health or make you gain weight more readily. Overconsumption of fats, cholesterol, sodium and sugar can cause heart problems and weight gain. The FDA highlights these nutrients in food label information so that you can make wise food selections.
What You Should Eat
Choosing foods from the fruits, vegetable, grains, dairy and protein food groups will assemble the correct nutrients to satisfy the FDA's recommended DVs. To get the greatest nutritional value, choose: whole fruits and whole grains; low-fat dairy products, fish and meats; and nutrient-dense vegetables, such as cooked spinach, which has high fiber, vitamin and mineral levels in low calories. Vary your menus, and include additional nutritious foods such as beans, nuts and seeds in meals often.
How Much You Should Eat
Once you identify the most healthy food sources for essential nutrients, focus on portion control. This will keep your weight in check, reducing your risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, arthritis and other serious health problems. Get regular physical exercise and either count calories or weigh yourself often to make sure that you aren't consuming more calories than you can expend. Food labels display calorie amounts per suggested serving of food products, based on a 2,000-calorie diet.
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