five benefits of a balanced diet
A well-balanced diet provides important vitamins, minerals, and nutrients to keep the body and mind strong and healthy. It can help ward off numerous diseases and health complications, as well as help maintain a healthy body weight, provide energy, allow better sleep, and improve brain function. A diet with balance provides the body with the proper proportions of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and liquids. It is important to not eliminate any essential macronutrient, such as fats or carbohydrates, but be conscious of portion control.
1. Control bodyweight
Eating a healthy variety of nutrient-dense foods leaves less room for those calorie-dense foods that typically lead to weight gain. These would be foods such as processed foods and fatty or sugary snacks that provide little nutritional value. The body has little use for these foods and will tend to store rather than use them for energy. Eating carbohydrates like whole grains, oats, vegetables, fruits, legumes, and quinoa that have a low glycemic index will allow the body to stay fuller over longer. These complex carbohydrates break down and release into the blood stream over an extended period preventing triggers in the brain to crave simple sugary snacks. Along with lean proteins (chicken, most seafood, eggs, lean cuts of pork, etc.), the metabolism can stay elevated longer limiting the feeling of hunger after a short time frame.
2. Fight off disease
When eating a balanced diet, essential nutrients will produce and help maintain key germ-fighting cells in the immune system and greatly improve vascular function. The immune system relies heavily on blood flow, so better vascular function will help provide disease fighting cells to areas of need quickly. Deficiencies in certain nutrients can impair immune system function, such as vitamin A, B-vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E, Zinc, and Iron. A diet filled with fruits and vegetables also increases the production of infection-fighting white blood cells and materials that help prevent bacteria and infections from attaching themselves to cells in the body.
3. Increased energy
The food we eat has a tremendous impact on the energy we have throughout the day. Nutrient-dense foods will digest and therefore be released into the system over a longer period. On the other hand, easily digestible food (sugary/simple carbohydrates) will digest much quicker, causing the body to feel hungry again in a much shorter time frame. This can cause spikes in the release of energy into the bloodstream, immediately followed by lows. Ideally, the goal is to maintain energy levels through the day without these extreme highs and lows. Eating well keeps our energy on a relatively level base from morning until night.
4. Better quality Sleep
There are few things our bodies need more than sleep. It allows our muscles to recover and replenish from the day’s activities and workouts. Sleep will rejuvenate the brain and its ability to function at a high level for the next day. Without it we feel sluggish, energy levels remain low, focus and concentration levels are affected, and cravings for less beneficial food are triggered. Poor eating habits often cause stomach and digestive issues due to the toxins that may be released into the blood system. Raised acidity can also put a strain on the digestive system, making it very difficult to get a good night’s sleep.
5. Increased brain function
What could possibly be more important than our brains? We have an opportunity to keep it healthy and functioning at a high level based on our eating habits. Omega 3 fatty acids provide a number of important benefits, such as improved memory and the ability to learn. They also help fight against debilitating mental disorders, for example, depression, dementia, and schizophrenia. Foods such as salmon, walnuts, avocado, and kiwi contain these important fatty acids. Omega3s can provide long term benefits to support synaptic plasticity which is how our memory and learning are developed and possibly improved.
And…drink more water!
Water is a substance, that makes up a majority of your body weight and is involved in many important functions, including flushing out waste from your body, regulating body temperature, and helping your brain function.
