?  A Deliciously Balanced Diet

Hello again,

Welcome everyone (pretend you read that in a YouTuber’s voice), your girl is back. We are going to be looking at an aspect of healthy living.

Let’s quickly look at what we mean by healthy living……

…..Healthy Living is essentially having the motivation to engage in lifestyle choices that positively affect your mental and physical well-being. This is by keeping a close watch on;

·         what you eat

·          being physically active

·          and having more knowledge about your body and what it needs to continue functioning in a generally healthy way (that was a mouthful sha but you get the gist).

Now that you are all caught up with us we can continue today’s topic which centres on a balanced diet.

Most often when we hear balanced diet, a majority of us think about food groups….that is if you paid attention in class, which most of us did not if we are being honest. But for simplicity let’s see what we mean when we say food group. A food group is a category of foods that have similar nutritional properties or biological classifications.

The common food groups we all know are;

·         fruits and vegetables

·          dairy

·          Protein

·          and fat

…….stay with me ladies and gentlemen because this is one science ‘lecture’ you would not want to miss.

We are going to shortly look at these 5 and see exactly why they are important in our diet.

Let's start with fruits and vegetables. Almost everyone I know like fruits….and sadly I say almost because I know a handful of people who do not like fruits. Do not worry I have taken them all to get checked and will update you on the results.

Whether it be big fruits, little fruits, seedless fruits, sweet fruits, tart fruits and even sour fruits, there are so many fruits you can even begin to imagine. I remember the first time I had durian (it's a fruit popular in mostly East Asia), I didn’t even want to touch it because of the smell….

……if you don’t have a strong stomach you have been officially warned.

After some persuasion though I tried it and it tasted nothing like it smelled.  Fruits have as much versatility as vegetables do, be it in an appetizer, main meal, or dessert. Jackfruit is a perfect example of the versatility of fruits. Because of its meaty texture, it is used to supplement meat in a lot of vegan dishes, and let me tell it is absolutely delicious.

 Now to its dreaded companion, vegetables.

Vegetables, although being a great source of nutrition, do not have a great reputation and for reasonable reasons too. I was never a big fan of vegetables by now but that changed when done right vegetables can be……dare I say it, delicious. Not just passably edible, actually good

 We move on to protein…..and no protein is not just meat (I was surprised too). Protein is a crucial part of a healthy diet (I know you have probably heard this a million times but now it’s a million and one ;-)).

Protein is made up of hundreds or thousands of smaller units called amino acids (amino acids are essentially molecules that combine to form proteins), which are attached in long chains. 20 different types of amino acids can be combined to make a protein.

See, I got you covered with this science thing ;-)

Our body needs dietary protein to supply amino acids for the growth and maintenance of our cells and tissues. The beautiful thing about protein is it can be derived from both plants and animals.

Next on our list is dairy. Dairy refers to foods that are made from or contain the milk of mammals, such as;

·          cows

·          sheep

·          goats

·          or even buffaloes (you heard right, buffaloes).

The dairy group in itself includes foods like;

·         regular and lactose-free milk

·         yogurt

·         cheese

·          and kefir (a fermented milk drink similar to yogurt)

as well as milk-containing products.

 Somehow this is making me want a pizza. You know, cheese? No one? Just me? Ok then.

Dairy products provide us with quite a number of health benefits, especially building and maintaining strong bones. If I had drank my milk like an obedient child I would have been a professional basketball player, sigh.

They also contain nutrients that are vital for the health and maintenance of your body. These nutrients include;

·         calcium

·          potassium

·          vitamin D

·          and protein

Here we meet protein again, you see your girl knows what she’s talking about.

 Dairy products also can be derived from both plants and animals, which means if for any reason you cannot consume animal-based dairy products, plant-based dairy products are also a great source. My favourites are soy, almond, and oat milk. They are simply delicious.

Lastly, we have oils and fats (it's about to get a little more science ‘lecture’ here so bear with me for a moment). They are commonly of vegetable origin (palm oil, rapeseed oil, soybean oil, olive oil, cocoa butter, etc) or animal origin (pork lard, beef tallow, fish oils) as well as from animal milk fats.

Don’t you just love nature?

 All natural fats and oils contain variable amounts of vitamin E, the fat-soluble vitamin antioxidant (fat-soluble vitamins are essentially vitamins A, D, E, and K). Fats contain physical characteristics that are important in cooking. It makes food more pleasant by enhancing its texture and mouth feel and its appearance.

A healthy eating pattern should include fats.

However, fats are higher in calories than carbohydrates and protein and should be moderated to balance total energy intake.

Healthy living is so much more than just eating plain salads and exercising. It entails so many things and we can never stop learning about ways to better our lifestyle and have fun while doing it.

Till next time...

Love Always,

Heidi.

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Heidi Adu

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