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It's All About Balance - Diet
The output of anything always, without any exceptions, depends heavily on the input provided to the system, and the case of human body is no different. There’s a famous saying – You are what you eat – that could be used to explain this relationship between what we give to our body and what it gives back to us. Food is often seen as the fueling source for the human or any living body to function, but it has more roles in our functioning than just that of a fuel. For example, a car doesn’t distinguish between bad fuel and bad fuel. As long as what’s going in is fuel, it functions. But in case of the human body, our body reacts differently towards the different types of foods. You might have noticed how eating a certain something makes your skin breakout, or your stomach bloat unusually, or even make you feel lazier and inactive. That’s the power of food in our lives, and therefore, it is important to feed our body good quality, nutritious food that can help it grow and glow. One of the concepts under this vast topic is the balanced diet.
We all studied the meaning and importance for maintaining a balanced diet in school, at many levels. The one chapter that kept repeating itself every year was – nutrition and balanced diet, but how many of us can confirm that we fully understand the concept and have inculcated the same in our daily lifestyle? Stop lying. We see you! Anyway, we are taking you back towards the basics of eating a nutritious balanced meal today, because giving three exams every year for almost 5 years of your life didn’t seem to have enough impact. Let’s Start.
What does the term “Balanced Diet” even mean?
You are a person, that has a body different from all others. The amount of every type of nutrient that your body needs depends on your gender, age, lifestyle, and the amount of physical activities you are involved into. Incorporating all these nutrients in your meals in adequate quantities is what balanced diet is all about.
What are the different types of nutrients?
The three most important types of nutrients are:-
- Carbohydrates – These are the main source of energy for us. Carbohydrates are sugar molecules that our body breakdowns into glucose, which, is what gives us energy. If you want to know the entire process, we will make sure to write about it very soon but let’s focus on its significance for now. We have all heard our friendly neighborhood influencer talk about low carb diets, but what exactly are carbs and what food products they compose? Well, a large portion of everything you have ever eaten consisted of carbohydrates. Right from the roti your mom makes to the potato fries you order online, everything is carbs. There are total 3 types of carbohydrates:
- Sugars – This is the simplest form of carbohydrates, as it is the easiest to break down and provide energy. As simple as it sounds, sugars mostly include anything and everything sweet, however, not all sugar containing products are necessarily sweet. Desserts, chocolates, processed foods, soft drinks, candies, fruits, and vegetables are some of the examples for sugars.
- Starch – These are complex carbohydrates that are broken down into glucose through different stages. For example – the saliva in our mouth breaks down the starch into maltose – also known as double sugar. This maltose later gets converted into glucose. Some of the examples of food products rich in starch are – potatoes, whole grains and certain vegetables like peas and corn.
- Fiber – this is also one type of complex carbohydrate type. Most of the fibers are indigestible, therefore, inculcating more fiber in your diet will ensure you to have better metabolism and also prevent you from overeating. Fiber also helps our body in maintaining the cholesterol and blood sugar levels. Some of the examples for fibers are nuts, fruits and vegetables, and whole grains.
Going on a low carb diet can be healthy, but before doing so please always consult a dietician. Low carb means lesser nutrients and fibers, which might be harmful for your body.
2. Proteins – Carbohydrates and fats are often ignored by people because they are seen as nutrients that result in weight gain. However, the one type of nutrient that almost everyone gives importance to is proteins. In school language, proteins are the body building nutrients, no doubt they are the most respected ones. Now what a lot of people don’t know is the fact that proteins also play a major role in weight loss and metabolism for your body. How? Well, studies have shown that proteins make you full even when taken in little quantities. This is due to the fact that proteins can reduce your appetite by reducing the levels of hunger hormone ghrelin. We also have a secret for all you flat tummy aspirants, make sure no one’s eavesdropping because this might just change your life. Having a high protein diet can help you get rid of your belly fat. Yes, all you need to do is reduce the portion of rice and increase that of meat and vegetables. Other than weight related benefits, proteins also helps you gain muscle mass – that gym freak at your office doesn’t talk about his protein powder all day for no reason. And you, little midnight snacker, you can prevent the guilt by having more proteins in your diet too. Why? Because proteins prevent food cravings, including midnight snacking. We will need a separate book to write about just proteins. They are simply amazing!
3. Fats – Fats are what get stored in the body, for emergency energy needs. They are like your savings, not for now, but for the future. In extreme cases when your body doesn’t receive food for immediate energy production, fats are what come to your rescue. Now that doesn’t mean… No bro keep the fries down. When we say fats, we mean healthy fats. Some of the sources of healthy fats are – cheese, dark chocolate, whole eggs, seeds, and nuts.
Apart from these three types of nutrients, some of the other important nutrients are –
- Minerals – Like potassium, sodium, calcium, etc. We need these nutrients for bone health, skin health, eyes etc.
- Vitamins – these are organic compounds that are either fat soluble or water soluble in nature. There are 13 types of vital vitamins, as stated below –
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin K
- Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)
- Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
- Vitamin B3 (Niacin)
- Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid)
- Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)
- Vitamin B7 (Biotin)
- Vitamin B9 (Folate)
- Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin)
Incorporating these in your diet in right amounts will change your life, health, and appearance drastically. Your body only reflects what you give it. Make sure you give it the best.
