What is a balanced diet? How to build a diet? Allowed and prohibited foods, menu examples. Basic rules for a balanced diet.
A balanced diet is a diet that covers a person's needs for vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates, and other substances. With him, the risk of gaining excess weight is excluded. At the same time, a person does not experience a lack of energy, he feels vigorous and full of strength, there is no threat to health.
What is a balanced diet?
Proper balanced nutrition should not be confused with diet. This is its key advantage and difference: you do not have to adhere to a rigid framework. There are certain limitations, but a person practically does not feel them.
On the one hand, it seems that this system is too simple. But there are certain difficulties in it. First of all, it is important to know the rules of a balanced diet so that the body is guaranteed to receive proteins and fats, carbohydrates, a vitamin and mineral complex. They are designed in order to achieve a successful combination of products in order to maximize absorption, eliminate the risks of the formation of a fat depot.
Women often choose a balanced diet for weight loss. However, its effect on the body is much more multifaceted and beneficial. If you manage to come to a balance, the following positive effects are observed:
- Thanks to the complex provision of cells and tissues with vitamins, micro- and macroelements, the healthy functioning of all organs and systems is established.
- Excluding the deficiency of nutrients, you can notice the strengthening of the immune system. A person is less likely to get sick, heal faster.
- Signs of hypovitaminosis and chronic fatigue disappear, since vitamins are supplied without interruption with a balanced diet.
- Along with the disappearance of excess weight, people forget about shortness of breath, heart problems, and other consequences of obesity.
- Analyzes show a decrease in the content of "bad" cholesterol. The effect is achieved by using healthy fats with a balanced diet, excluding harmful ones.
- Vessels are strengthened, atherosclerotic plaques are dissolved, which serves as the best prevention of thrombosis, blockage of veins, arteries, capillaries.
- The pressure is normalized, the heart rate is restored.
- Digestion is getting better, the problem of constipation goes away, the feeling of bloating in the abdomen, flatulence.
- Balancing your diet will improve performance and endurance.
- Vitality, vigor, good mood, sound sleep return.
There are 2 types of balanced nutrition, which are similar in many ways, but there are also differences. The first option is classic. The diet is made taking into account age, gender, human activity. The second is the so-called functional. In the simplest terms, products are rejected even more severely for such a concept. Everyone is assessed in terms of nutritional value and benefit - the function they perform for the body.
Allowed foods for a balanced diet
A healthy, balanced diet involves the use of fresh and quality products. Gentle food processing is also a priority. Preference for those that help maintain maximum vitamins and minerals.
The diet is based on the following products:
- Whole grains in the form of bread, cereals;
- Vegetables, including leafy vegetables, legumes;
- Fruits and berries;
- Fresh and frozen fish;
- Lean meat;
- Nuts and seeds;
- Vegetable oils of the first extraction.
Many nutritionists are negative about dairy products. They believe that an adult for a balanced diet does not need to drink milk derived from it, that the body does not need them. An exception is made for fermented milk products, but only in a moderate amount. The belief has long been debunked, they say, only from milk, cottage cheese and yoghurts a person gets calcium: you can replenish its reserves from plant foods. And from it there is much less harm.
Prohibited foods with a balanced diet
First of all, for such a method of healing and losing weight, you will have to accurately prepare dishes. Rare dishes in the restaurant are verified in terms of the balance of vitamins and minerals, fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Naturally, fast food does not stand up to scrutiny.
When buying products for a balanced diet, you will need to exclude the following foods from the basket:
- Sweet products based on milk - this primarily concerns yoghurts and curds;
- Pork and beef - fatty parts;
- Sausages, sausages, other semi-finished products to which a lot of salt is added, flavor enhancers, flavors and preservatives;
- Any snacks;
- Industrial desserts, sweets, rolls;
- Carbonated drinks, store juices, which are more like sugar syrup.
Something to forget about eating a balanced diet is frying food. Even the most useful dietary meat is filled with fat, carcinogenic substances, so that its value is reduced to nothing. Instead, the body gets hit.
Basic rules for a balanced diet
The key essence of a balanced diet is not a temporary restriction that is resorted to in order to lose extra pounds, but then return to the usual diet. In fact, we are talking about a change in lifestyle and even thinking. Therefore, it is important to develop the right motivation before balancing your diet. Since such a concept is not resorted to for dubious purposes, but solely for the health benefits, support of one's own body, out of a sense of gratitude and care for it.
It is not enough just to exclude unhealthy foods from the diet and enrich it with useful ones. There is a broad set of rules to be followed:
- The concept of a balanced diet excludes fasting and rigid restrictions. The body must receive everything it needs to function and ideally with a certain rhythm. That is, it is best to set the time for lunch, breakfast and dinner and strictly adhere to the schedule, without missing a single meal. When there is no strong feeling of hunger, the body expends the received energy, not forming reserves in the form of fat.
- A balanced diet is divided approximately evenly into several meals. It is best when food is spread out throughout the day. For example, you can have a traditional breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with two more snacks in between. In this case, there will be no need to fill the stomach tightly.
- It is important to keep the portions small: nutritionists suggest correlating them with the size of a person's palm. Experts say that this is approximately the volume of our stomach when it is empty. So it won't stretch in vain.
- For a verified balanced diet, the ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates is important. The first should come 50% of the total daily volume. Fat needs 20%, and the remainder falls on carbohydrates. Moreover, the latter are simple and complex. So, complex ones form the basis of a balanced diet.
- Understanding the basics of a balanced diet, it is important to understand what exactly the body needs energy for. Based on this, calorie content, portion size is calculated. It is worth remembering that the body spends energy on basic needs: breathing, work of the brain and heart, digestion of food. Naturally, it is needed for movement. And the more it is, the more tangible the load, the more proteins, fats and carbohydrates are needed for a balanced diet.
Balanced diet menu
Not everyone understands why to schedule a balanced diet for the day. It seems that this is an unnecessary and waste of time. However, a well-formulated diet is the key to success. Firstly, then it is possible to clearly see what exactly a person eats during the day, in what amount of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Secondly, a ready-made menu actually saves time and effort. Thirdly, it eliminates the likelihood of a harmful snack.
Menu for every day
If you do not fully believe in the efficacy of a balanced diet for women, you can and should start an experiment. Only by testing for yourself, you can draw conclusions whether the system works. And, as practice shows, many become adherents of this concept. Just one day perfectly demonstrates that a balanced diet gives you a feeling of satiety, eliminates hunger, and fills you with energy.
How you can eat during the day to achieve balance:
| Eating | Menu |
| Breakfast | 2 boiled eggs, 100 g of oatmeal, 250 ml of freshly squeezed orange juice |
| Snack | Fruit salad dressed with natural yogurt |
| Dinner | 100 g steamed chicken fillet, 100 g brown rice, leafy salad |
| Snack | 1 fruit and 100 g low-fat cottage cheese |
| Dinner | 200 g of stewed fish, 200 g of vegetables, 1 large apple |
In principle, starting from this example of a balanced diet for one day, you can build your own menu. The easiest way is to change products. That is, instead of chicken fillet, you can take beef liver for lunch, and replace leafy vegetables in a salad with cucumber and tomato, and so on.
Menu for the week
Naturally, a longer experiment will help to fully appreciate all the advantages of the system. For example, you can schedule a balanced diet menu for seven days. This does not mean that it is allowed to eat the same every day, even if the ratio of BJU is perfectly verified. Remember one of the basic rules of the system: the diet should be varied.
What can be a balanced diet for a week:
| Day of week | Breakfast | Dinner | Dinner |
| Monday | Steam omelet with 2 eggs, a glass of apple juice (250 ml) | 100 g boiled beef, 200 g vegetable mixture | 150 g steamed chicken fillet, 200 g salad of fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs |
| Tuesday | 100 g oatmeal, a glass of kefir | 100 g grilled fish, 100 g brown rice, 200 g cabbage salad | 150 g boiled shrimps, 250 g fresh tomatoes |
| Wednesday | 100 g buckwheat porridge, 1 banana, a glass of orange juice | 250 ml mushroom soup, 2 slices of whole grain bread | 100 g chicken liver, 200 g baked vegetables |
| Thursday | 100 g of wheat porridge with 1 tsp. honey, a glass of apple juice | 200 ml fresh cabbage soup, 100 g steamed chicken fillet cutlets | 150 g boiled fish, 200 g beet salad with prunes |
| Friday | 100 g oatmeal, 2 slices of hard cheese, a glass of natural yogurt | 100 g boiled beans, 200 g carrot salad with garlic and walnuts | 200 g vegetable casserole, a glass of green tea |
| Saturday | 200 g cottage cheese and carrot casserole, 2 dietetic bread | 100 g durum wheat spaghetti, 20 g grated cheese, 200 g fresh vegetable salad | 100 g steamed beef, 200 g seaweed |
| Sunday | 150 g low-fat cottage cheese with 1 tsp. honey, 2 fruits | 100 g of chicken fillet baked in the oven, 100 g of potatoes, 100 g of boiled cauliflower | 250 g buckwheat soup with chicken meatballs |
Monthly menu
Having experienced a balanced diet menu for a week, many clearly feel a surge of energy and strength. The heaviness in the stomach disappears, the heartburn disappears, at night you sleep better and better. It is not surprising that you want to test your strength - to prolong the experiment. If you like the system as a whole, it's time to move on to developing a diet for the whole month. This is a very difficult and painstaking work, if you calculate proteins, fats and carbohydrates for a balanced diet, check the proportional ratio between them, excluding the lack of calories, but also preventing their excess.
The menu for the first week for a balanced intake of all the necessary substances can be as follows:
| Day of week | Breakfast | Dinner | Dinner |
| Monday | 200 g of brown rice, seasoned with 1 tsp. olive oil, 1 banana, a glass of green tea | 200 g of steamed fish, 150 g of Chinese cabbage salad with green peas | 100 g of boiled beef, 200 g of steamed vegetables |
| Tuesday | 1 slice whole grain bread, 2 slices hard cheese, fresh cucumber, glass of apple juice | 200 g chicken broth, 150 g seaweed salad with carrots | 100 g of boiled chicken fillet, 200 g of beets with garlic and vegetable oil |
| Wednesday | 100 g oatmeal, 1/2 small avocado, glass of orange juice | 250 g vegetable soup, 1 whole grain loaf | 150 g of boiled seafood, 200 g of cucumber, tomato and greens salad |
| Thursday | 150 g cottage cheese casserole, a glass of green tea with 1 tsp. honey | 250 g of mushroom soup with pearl barley and a handful of rye croutons | 100 g of baked fish and 200 g of seaweed |
| Friday | 100 g of millet porridge, 1 boiled egg, a glass of dried fruit compote | 200 g vegetable casserole with grated cheese, 1 apple | 100 g boiled chicken fillet, 100 g brown rice, a glass of tomato or vegetable juice |
| Saturday | 2 whole wheat bread with curd cheese, 1 fruit, a glass of green tea | 100 g of baked fish, 200 g of leafy salad, a glass of apple juice | 150 g chicken liver stewed with onions, 150 g buckwheat porridge, 1 tomato |
| Sunday | 200 g millet porridge with pumpkin, a glass of orange juice | 250 g borscht, 1 slice of whole grain bread, a handful of dried apricots | Steam omelet with 2 eggs, 200 g green beans |
Menu for the second week for a balanced intake of all the necessary substances:
| Day of week | Breakfast | Dinner | Dinner |
| Monday | A glass of curdled milk, 2 grain loaves, 1 banana | 150 g fish soup, 150 g steamed vegetables | 100 g beef cutlets, 200 g fresh vegetable salad |
| Tuesday | 2 boiled eggs, 2 tomatoes, a glass of herbal tea | 100 g of boiled beef, 200 g of vinaigrette | 150 g squid, 100 g brown rice, 100 g seaweed |
| Wednesday | 100 g low-fat cottage cheese with 2 fruits, a glass of apple juice | 250 g bulgur with chicken fillet, 100 g of Chinese cabbage salad | 100 g of baked beef, 200 g of vegetable salad |
| Thursday | 100 g chicken fillet, 200 g boiled buckwheat, 1 tomato | 250 g meat cabbage soup, 2 slices of whole grain bread | 100 g low-fat cottage cheese, 200 g fruit salad |
| Friday | 100 g oatmeal, 1 baked apple with 1 tsp. honey, a glass of green tea | 100 g durum wheat spaghetti, 100 g steamed chicken fillet, 100 g tomato and cucumber salad | 100 g of baked fish, 100 g of brown rice, 100 g of beets with garlic |
| Saturday | 150 g cottage cheese casserole, 2 fruits, a glass of apple juice | 250 g potatoes, stewed with meat, 1 tomato | 100 g grilled fish, 200 g vegetable salad |
| Sunday | 1 whole grain toast with a slice of cheese, 100 g braised spinach, 1 banana | 100 g boiled chicken breast, 200 g white bean salad | 250 g vegetable casserole, 100 g stewed beef liver |
Note! First of all, recipes for a balanced diet are resorted to for the sake of health improvement. Therefore, it is impossible to predict what the result will be: everything is purely individual. If there are serious health problems, excessive weight, it will take time to feel a clear effect.
What is a balanced diet - watch the video:
