The food we eat reflect on our health, personality, ability to perform a daily routine task. The human body is made up of muscles, bones, blood vessels, and ligaments that require adequate nutrition and energy to function properly and prevent the development of certain acute and chronic diseases. Since childhood, people have heard the term balanced diet and its importance on the long term health of a person. A balanced diet is a name given to the food plan a person should consume and which should include natural food groups such as fruits, vegetables, lean meat, dairy products, and whole-grain products. The key benefits of eating healthy food are
- Provide fuel and energy to the person
- Improves the mood and helps a person to enjoy the small moments in a day
- Helps to control the weight of a person
- Provides the right quantity of minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants which help to counter the infections and allergies
- Reduces the risk of chronic diseases
- Helps a person to maintain the energy levels
Health Canada takes the health and wellbeing of the citizens quite seriously and provides all the vital information needed to maintain health through nutritional food guide. The food guide helps families and individuals to care for their health and adopt certain eating habits which are effective in the long run. The focus is on ensuring that people consume natural food that not contributes overall health but reduce the risk of chronic ailments such as heart diseases, type 2 diabetes, obesity, a certain type of cancers and strokes. The food guide is quite comprehensive and mentions every aspect of eating food in detail, the type of food and the number of servings is mentioned according to the age of the person and gender. There is a table that what servings a person should consume and choose the food from the four food groups, which are vegetables, fruits, whole grain products, and dairy products and also meat alternatives.
The Canadian food guide is quite simple and easy to follow as all the topics are covered, and a person would not be confused about anything. The healthy eating provides the strength of the vital nutrient a person needs to remain active in the entire day. The Canadian food guide presents a balanced diet in the form of a full plate in which
- Half of the plate should have fruits and vegetables.
- One-quarter of the plate should have protein food such as lean meat
- And remaining one quarter should be whole grain food
- Water should be the choice of drink
The food guide also provides key tips and instructions to improve the lifestyle by making correct decisions which are
- Making the right and healthy choices when eating out with family or friends
- Know not only the type of food a person should eat but also the portion sizes
- Label reading is very important, and one thing which many people tend to overlook. People should read the labels when buying food products from a grocery store.
- People should drink water and natural juices and limit the consumption of carbonated drinks
- Reduce sodium intake as extra consumption of sodium increases the risk of high blood pressure and heart diseases.
The healthy eating habits has now encompassed not only fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy and wholegrain products but also seeds, plant oils, nuts, legumes, and other naturally found food products. The nutritional food guide is a complete process that begins includes meal planning, buying food from grocery stores, knowing what healthy snacks are, the culinary styles, and recipes to make delicious and nutritional food.
Meal planning is a four-step process that includes
- First of all, writing the meal and food that you and your family eat eagerly. You can get recipe ideas from websites, cooking books, recipe videos, friends, and family. You should then check out the grocery brochures and flyers to know about the healthy food on sale. You should also use the food stored in the fridge first and then replenish the food items to minimize food waste
- You should make a grocery list and mark the food and snacks that you and the family loves to eat. Paste the grocery list on the door of the fridge so that you can add things when you remember them
- The grocery list would help you to buy only the things you need, help to minimize the time while shopping as you would know which section and aisle to go and save money
- You should try to cook food at homes and use natural food products and healthy food recipes
People consume food at different times of the day and in different places such as at home, in office, in school or even while traveling in a car or bus. You should have a small bag in which you can carry a small amount of food and snacks. The common fruits and vegetables people can easily carry and eat are apples, bananas, oranges, cucumbers, celery, carrots, and people can also carry dry fruits such as peanuts, almonds and cashew nuts.
Author Bio:
Miss. Emma Smith writes as a freelance writer for the online magazine on fitness. She discusses numerous health topics and gives tips on how to maintain a healthy life. She has often focused on the importance of nutritional food guide. People can ask her questions on her Facebook and Twitter accounts.