Balanced Diet Needs

Providing enough of all the essential vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that your body needs will sustain life, but not necessarily your health. It takes several dietary checks and balances to arrive at an eating plan that gives you enough of the "good" stuff, limits the "bad" stuff and delivers a consistent nutritional supply. A well-rounded plan will help your body thrive, reduce the likelihood of disease and control your weight at the same time.

Beneficial Nutrient Regulation

The USDA notes that many American don't get enough of the nutrients that are good for you, especially calcium, potassium, vitamin D and dietary fiber. Meals drawn from all of the food groups help you achieve but not overdose on beneficial nutrients that include vitamins A, B, C, D and E, protein, fiber, unsaturated fats and iron and other minerals. Food labels provide nutrient amounts per serving along with the percentage that each food contributes to your total recommended daily value, or DV, of important nutrients.

Detrimental Nutrient Regulation

If you get enough of the good stuff, taking additional vitamin or mineral supplements can cause adverse reactions, such as vitamin A or iron toxicity. This is why the USDA advises food rather than supplementary sources of nutrition. At the same time, your body needs less of the saturated fat, cholesterol, sugar and sodium present in many foods. Too much of this bad stuff can coat your arteries, create insulin resistance and raise your blood pressure. A balanced diet limits these ingredients to naturally decrease your risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Calorie Regulation

It takes different daily amounts of different types of foods, such as three to five servings of fruits and vegetables or six to eight servings of grains to achieve recommended DVs of each nutrient. Items within each food group also have variable calorie loads, depending on how much food you put on your plate. Wise choices serve to restrict your daily calorie intake to the amount of energy you can expend. This calorie balance is also intrinsic to a healthy diet. Adjust the FDA's suggested serving sizes found on food labels to reflect your energy expenditure and avoid weight gain or loss.

Interval Regulation

Erratic delivery of essential nutrients can slow your metabolism and contribute to overnutrition or undernutrition. For instance, your body needs vitamin C, which it cannot make or store, every day. A consistent, moderate supply is superior to a cycle of overconsumption and underconsumption of major sources of vitamin C such as fruits. The National Institutes of Health proposes the simple solution of three regular daily meals as a way to send nutrients to cells to satisfy their metabolic needs.