HEALTHY
DIET
Maintaining a healthy diet is the practice of
making choices about what to eat with the intent of improving or maintaining
good health. Usually this involves consuming necessary nutrients by eating the
appropriate amounts from all of the food groups, including an adequate amount
of water. Since human nutrition is complex, a healthy diet may vary widely,
subject to an individual's genetic makeup, environment, and health. For around
20% of the planet's population, lack of food and malnutrition are the main impediments
to healthy eating; people in developed countries have the opposite problem,
and are more concerned about obesity.
Although a healthy diet is based upon nutrition, people eat foods and not nutrients;
as few people know which foods supply which nutrients, allowing people to self-regulate
their diets means that they run the obvious risk of deficiency. Due to past
difficulties of educating people about nutrient intake, governments have opted
to counsel on what foods to eat rather than on what nutrients to ingest. Most
states set guidelines for a healthy diet -- these usually vary slightly from
country to country based upon demographics. These guidelines do however usually
share the same recommendations of eating less fried or fatty foods to reduce
cholesterol. Many guidelines suggest replacing certain foods with healthier
alternatives that supply an abundance of nutrients, for instance using legumes
or beans within a salad or pasta. (1)
Source
(1) Wkipedia