A healthy diet not only helps your body feel great, but your mind as well. When you are eating healthily, you tend to have more energy and feel less lethargic and tired. Though it can be challenging, maintaining a healthy diet creates a kind of virtuous ‘feedback loop’: eating right leads to more energy, more energy leads to more activity and more activity leads to a positive, happy, healthy you!

Malnutrition can be caused by an unbalanced diet. This can be due to an excess of some dietary components and a lack of others, not just an overall lack of food. Too much of one food type can be as harmful to the body as too little. Deficiency diseases occur when there is a lack of a specific nutrient, although some diet-related disorders are a result of eating in excess. An adequate diet provides sufficient energy for the body to function effectively. Carbohydrates, fats and proteins provide energy. Proteins are a provider of energy in an emergency, but are primarily used as building blocks for growth and repair of body tissues. We also need smaller amounts of other nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals. Despite the small quantities needed, these are still essential components of a healthy diet.

The truth is that a healthy diet is a diverse diet and is built up over time. Focussing on balance and moderation with regard to your diet can be really beneficial. An ideal diet would see you consuming the level of calories that your body requires and balancing those calories across carbohydrates, proteins and fats. This is simple advice that has stood the test of time.

It is generally accepted that a balanced diet is key to a healthy lifestyle and this is backed up by extensive scientific research. When we regularly consume a balanced diet, we help to maintain our physical, as well as mental, health. A balanced diet should contain the proper foods, consumed in appropriate quantities. A perfectly balanced diet is composed of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals, high fibre content, vitamins and more.

Unfortunately, the proliferation of ‘junk food’ available to us shows no sign of going away. Many people are forgoing a balanced diet in favour of all sorts of harmful, heavily processed foods. Consequently, It is more important than ever to educate people about the importance of a healthy, balanced diet. You cannot simply exercise and expect your body to stay fit and strong on its own. A balanced diet is crucial for that: you need to supply your body with the correct nutrients it needs to maintain itself properly.

Crucially, it is called a ‘balanced’ diet because it requires foods to be eaten in a balanced manner. For instance, if you consume large amounts of carbohydrates and too little protein, then that cannot be considered a balanced diet, even if you are eating the ‘right’ foods. Like with most things in life, balance is the key.

Eating is one of the most pleasurable experiences in the world, an experience that most of us have several times a day. There is added pleasure in experiencing food as nature intended i.e. natural or minimally processed foods. Remember, a balanced diet is also a nutritious diet. There is no doubt that some of us may need to eat according to a less common set of rules (those with food allergies for example). However, if the majority of people can adopt a more balanced, naturalistic approach to diet, then ultimately public health can benefit on a grand scale.