If you worry about how your eating habits are affecting your health, branch out with a greater variety of food sources. A well-balanced diet provides the nutrition your body needs. Focus on eating dietary fiber, minerals and vitamins and stay away from fats, cholesterol and sugar to increase your energy level while decreasing your risk for chronic diseases. Plan to incorporate each food group in every meal.
Protein
To make room in your diet for beneficial fiber and other nutrients, you should choose foods that limit fat and calories. Low-fat protein foods promote this dietary balance. Choose nutritious pinto, black and other beans for a cholesterol-free entree. Salmon, tuna and other fish have less saturated fat than meats and poultry. Lean beef and pork and chicken without skin also have a place in a well-balanced diet as sources of protein and B vitamins.
Dairy
Your dairy choices should also curtail fat content in order to get the most benefit from calcium and other nutrients. If you don't drink milk, take up the habit or eat low-fat yogurt and cheese such as mozzarella or cottage cheese. The USDA suggests getting your essential calcium from these foods rather than from supplemental pills for their potassium and vitamins A, B and D content.
Grains
Grain foods make major contributions of fiber that animal-based foods don't. They improve your digestion and heart health. Balance your nutritional intake with iron and B vitamins and foods such as brown rice, whole-grain cereal, barley, rye bread, and whole-wheat pasta and baked goods. Buy cereals with the least amount of sugar to trim calories and get up to 100 percent daily values of some vitamins and minerals.
Vegetables
The vegetable food group holds the key to the broadening a limited diet. You can enjoy big boosts of iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, fiber, protein and vitamins A, B, C, E and K from a single food, such as cooked spinach, or a variety of vegetables. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that choosing different colors of veggies will balance your intake of these nutrients. Try red tomatoes, orange carrots, green broccoli and other colorful vegetables.
Fruit
Fruit contains vitamin C and dietary fiber. Again, varied choices offer you several nutrients, such as the high levels of potassium and vitamin B in papayas and bananas and the high level of fiber found in berries. Melons, grapes, pears, kiwis and apples all help you round out your diet to balance your metabolism.
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