Learn what a balanced diet is and why it is essential for good health and well-being. Find out the 7 components of a balanced diet , the benefits of each, and a sample daily diet chart for guidance. A balanced diet fulfils all of a person’s nutritional needs and includes foods from the 5 essential food groups. Learn more about building a healthful, balanced diet here. An easy way to understand the balanced consumption of these five food groups is represented as four steps to a healthy diet as shown in Figure 1.1. Our daily diets for maintaining good health should be made up of generous amounts of vegetables and fruits, adequate amounts of cereals, pulses, milk and milk products, moderate amounts of meat and flesh foods and limited quantities of fats and oils, nuts and oil seeds and sugars as shown in the Figure below. A balanced diet isn’t a rigid rulebook or a fad—it’s a flexible, life-enhancing approach to food. It respects your body, your culture, your tastes, and your needs. It adapts, grows, and evolves with you. The science behind eating right is surprisingly simple: give your body what it needs, in the right proportions, from a variety of sources.
