Browse > Home / Diets

Diets



eDiets Meal Delivery Plan - 1 FREE Week!

Save 25% at eDiets!

What Is a Balanced Diet?

It’s easy to balance a beam. Just put the same weight on both sides of a pivot. You can even lead a balanced life, by having a mixture of activities. But what is a balanced diet?

The same basic idea applies in all cases: not too much of this here, not too little of that there. But in the case of diet, what is it that gets balanced, exactly?

A balanced diet has the right amount of carbohydrates, fats, protein, minerals and other needed compounds.

Carbohydrates are sometimes mistakenly looked at as unhealthy or not appropriate for dieters. Au contraire, carbohydrates are essential. They are the body’s foremost source of energy. Carbohydrates are broken down and put back together into various combinations of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, releasing energy along the way. That energy is used for cell repair, muscle movement and many other biological processes. In short, carbohydrates power everything we do.

About 50-60% of the total calories consumed daily should be in the form of carbohydrates. Slightly lower for those aiming at weight loss. That can be anywhere from roughly 150-400 grams per day. Every gram of carbs yields 4 calories. The wide range is the result of variation in diets. For a 2,000 calorie diet, for example, 50% is equivalent to 1,000 calories of carbs, or 250 grams. Some diets are focused on weight loss, others on muscle building, some on body fat reduction… the list is endless.

Fat often gets bad press, too. One reason is the fact that each gram yields 9 calories, so they’re ‘energy dense’. But they’re also the body’s ‘emergency energy supply’. Consumption of fat – of the right type and in the right quantities – is essential to a healthy diet. It is needed to create certain hormones and enzymes, to keep the brain and nerves healthy, to aid in storing fat soluble vitamins and a variety of other tasks.

But there are different types. A healthy, balanced diet will contain chiefly unsaturated fats, avoiding saturated and trans-fats. These should make up about 20-30% of the total daily calories intake. That’s about 25-40 grams per day.

Proteins are another vital component of the balanced diet. They’re broken down by digestion into amino acids, which are then reassembled into proteins used for growth, muscle building, cell repair and other functions. A healthy diet is comprised of 25-35% protein per day. That works out to, say, 165 grams or 660 calories daily (33%) for a diet of 2,000 calories.

Vitamins and minerals are the biochemical ‘facilitators’ in the diet. They add few calories, but are essential to getting all the needed reactions to take place. A wide variety of A, B-complex, C, D, E, K along with mineral elements like sodium, calcium, iron, zinc and others are a must. It would take an entire article just to list the names and amounts. A few of the major ones are:

Sodium: no more than 2,400 mg per day
Calcium: 1200-1500 mg per day
Iron: 15-20 mg per day
Zinc: 15-20 mg per day
Folic Acid (a B-complex vitamin): 400 mcg per day

Numbers are based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet for an average adult.

Calcium is used in bulk to build up bones. Iron is essential for making hemoglobin, a key component of red blood cells. Sodium is used to regulate the heart beat, in nerve fibers and elsewhere.

In theory a healthy, balanced diet – whether one designed for weight loss, weight training or just basic nutrition – can supply all the needed elements. But, leading busy lives can often cause individuals to forego some important aspects. Supplements, used wisely, can help in those cases.


Click Here for your FREE Diet Profile from eDiets!

Save 25% at eDiets!

Should You Diet?

There’s no single answer to the question posed by the title that is right for everyone, of course. There are a variety of natural body types, some very thin, others on the stocky side. Still, official sources state that people now consume about 22% more calories daily than they did a generation ago. In light of that, it shouldn’t be surprising that society is tending toward obesity today.

A good exercise program is one of the twin pillars that can help reverse that trend. Along with the increased consumption has come a decrease in the amount of exercise the average person gets today. More time at the computer and a host of other reasons are responsible.

But the right diet is the other pillar that is a must. A ‘must’, that is, if the goal is optimal weight and body fat percentage, an attractive appearance, self-esteem and overall health. It isn’t mere vanity that prompts millions to seek that diet. They know, most having tried to diet at one time or another, that many real benefits follow.

Dieting is about more than just losing weight. It’s just as much about achieving optimal nutrition. It’s about creating the body image that you feel comfortable with. It’s about achieving your unique optimal weight range.

Note that important phrase ‘weight range’. No exact number represents your ideal weight. It will fluctuate slightly from week to week. What that range is depends on your BMI (Body Mass Index), your waistline and where you store fat, your natural body type and other factors.

BMI is just your weight (in kilograms) divided by your height (in meters) squared, or BMI = Weight / (Height x Height). To find your weight in metric units, just divide by 2.2, to find your height in meters, multiply inches by 2.54 and divide by 100.

So, suppose you are a woman 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing 140 lbs. So, (66 inches x 2.54)/100 = 1.676 meters. Your Weight = 140 / 2.2 = 63.6 kg. Therefore, your BMI = 63.6 / (1.676 x 1.676) = 22.6, which is right in the middle of the normal range.

But a woman 5 feet 6 inches who weighs a 140 pounds may still feel the need to diet. It’s not then strictly just a health issue. She may want to feel more attractive. She may legitimately believe that a slimmer physique or one with more muscle will give her more energy.

Or, she may not. That’s where self-image plays a significant role. She may adjust her body, or her attitude, or both. Or, she may be perfectly satisfied with herself as she is.

Part of that outlook will (and should) depend on age and personal circumstances. If that same woman is 26 she may feel the need to shed a few pounds in order to achieve her personal goal. If she’s 16, she likely has a few years of growth left and the whole situation will sort itself out with time. If she’s 56, she might be very pleased that she is in a healthy range and not pay much heed to other factors, but still want to diet to achieve optimal nutrition.

Personal situations count heavily when deciding whether or not to diet.

Get one FREE week of meals with your first eDiets’ meal delivery order