How To Make Your Own Healthy And Balanced Diet

Many people are willing to commit to their health and to follow a healthy and balanced diet that enhances the defenses and provides the body with essential nutrients . The problem arises when we are not sure what exactly a healthy and balanced diet means .

There are so many myths, so many miraculous diets and so much misleading advertising about supposedly slimming products and full of additives and toxic substances, that it is really difficult to know what information is correct and rigorous.

That is why we will see how to prepare our own diet taking into account some basic principles and reviewing which foods are the most beneficial in the kitchen, in what quantity and how to distribute them throughout the day.

Basic principles for developing a balanced diet

These are the fundamental concepts that you should be clear before developing a healthy and balanced diet:

What nutrients the body needs

In general, with respect to nutrients , it is essential that you understand that proteins , fats , carbohydrates , vitamins and minerals are all essential nutrients that the body needs to survive. And that of “surviving” includes having all the tools to keep our body clean, thin, healthy, strong and detoxified . Below we will tell you in what percentages and how to distribute them throughout the day. For now, it is important that you understand that all are necessary.

Proteins . To obtain proteins of high biological value it is necessary, either to consume meat or fish , or to combine cereal (75%) + legume (25%) + seeds and nuts . Total protein per day: 10-15%. You can easily get protein and supplements on discount with amazon coupons

Fatty acids . The most beneficial are unsaturated, which come from cold pressed vegetable oils, seeds and nuts and fish. Meat contains numerous saturated fats and almost all processed products contain trans fats, the most harmful and dangerous. Total fat per day: 25-30%.

Carbohydrates . Complex carbohydrates are the most efficient source of energy for the body and must be the most abundant nutrients in a balanced diet. These complex carbohydrates come mainly from cereals and legumes . To a lesser extent, vegetables, vegetables, seeds and nuts. Total carbohydrates per day: 55-65%.

Vitamins and minerals . The main sources of vitamins and minerals are in raw and fresh fruit and vegetable elements .

Breakfast, lunch and dinner . There is a basic and very simple law: abundant breakfast and rich in carbohydrates (cereal flakes, vegetables, fruit, etc.), moderate and protein food that includes raw vegetable foods (salads and cereal + legumes, meat or fish, or protein vegetable like tofu), and light and hot dinner where carbohydrates and hot vegetables (soups, purees, cereals, vegetables, etc) predominate.

Chop between hours . A good idea to snack between meals is, on the one hand, nuts or fruit. On the other, we also suggest that you make vegetable pate such as hummus or mushroom pate and many others … they are delicious and nutritious.

Balance and food variation

There are no miraculous foods by themselves. Any excess or defect causes imbalances . Since each nutrient needs different factors for its metabolism, it is better that you include few foods in each meal . The best thing is that, instead of including a lot of different foods, you will vary them throughout the week and prepare different recipes. In this way, you will not only facilitate digestion, but eating will be more entertaining and different every day.

Fresh seasonal foods

It goes without saying that all those foods that are canned, processed, packaged , etc … have lost a lot of nutrients (if not almost all). A good way to ensure the nutritional richness of numerous foods is to vary them following the patterns of nature, that is, eating fresh seasonal foods . If you have not yet considered having an urban organic garden in your home, it may be time to do so. In any case, if you decide to start buying organic, following the natural rhythms will not cost you, since in the stores of organic products usually seasonal foods abound.

Oils

Of course, it is essential that you consume extra virgin olive oil as an essential element for cooking and dressing salads , as it has been done in the traditional Mediterranean diet . This oil has excellent cardiovascular properties and is one that best resists heat. Occasionally, it uses other cold-pressed vegetable oils in salads (raw) such as wheat germ , evening primrose , sesame , etc.

The condiments

Frequently use aromatic and medicinal plants in the form of spices to flavor . Some of the most recommended are garlic , thyme, rosemary, turmeric , ginger , oregano, cumin, etc. You can also use them in digestive infusions as a dessert at lunch, or soothing infusions as a dessert at dinner. And on the other hand, we advise you to explore new possibilities brought from distant lands to give a very special flavor to your dishes (in addition to nutritional elements) such as gomasio , soy sauce , miso, or Ayurvedic chyawanprash .

Adapt the diet to your needs

Our opinion is that there are no generalized diets for everyone , because each person is a world and does not feel the same things. Therefore, although the principles we will offer you can serve as a general guideline, we must adapt them to the tastes, lifestyle or individual characteristics of each person. For example, a diet for athletes is not the same as a children’s diet, diet for pregnancy, diet to lose weight, diet for diabetes , cholesterol diet, diet for the elderly, vegetarian diet, etc. In fact a treadmill runner diet is different from other people.

Essential foods

The following are a series of foods that should be included in the diet regularly and abundantly to ensure health:

Raw vegetables

In every balanced diet there must be a part of raw vegetables. Foods are more digestive when they are somewhat cooked, but they are much more nutritious raw. Do not be afraid, nothing happens to eat them raw (wash them well). Surely you will get a pleasant surprise when you discover its flavor and texture in raw (try to eat raw broccoli, cabbage, zucchini, etc … They are delicious!) In salads it is advisable to include a bitter element such as escarole to promote secretion Biliary and an antioxidant element such as broccoli or Lombard. Some of the most recommended vegetables are endives, escarole, carrots , celery, red cabbage, peppers, garlic, onions and, of course, broccoli or broccoli . We propose this antioxidant salad of red fruits .

Cooked vegetables

Cooked vegetables (better steamed, undercooked and simmered) offer a good supply of nutrients and favor the digestion of any nutrient. It usually includes vegetables as a first course at lunch or dinner.

Cereal (brown rice, quinoa and buckwheat)

Brown rice is undoubtedly the king of cereals and the basis of a healthy and balanced diet. The cereals (combined with pulses such as lentils, chick peas azukis or a proportion of 2 cereal vegetable 1) should form the bulk of the diet (at the least four days a week). Even better if we have raw or under-steamed vegetables and vegetables in the vegetable stews with legumes . We propose you our recipe for rice salad with azuki’s .

Foods that should be taken in moderation

These are some very healthy foods but that should be taken in moderation :

Organic eggs

Two or three times a week we can eat eggs of ecological origin. The best way to consume them is passed through water or poached in cereal or vegetable dishes.

Grilled fish

Twice a week should take organic fish, at noon and combined with abundant vegetables (salad or vegetables).

Organic meat

Once a week we can incorporate meat into the diet but, yes, raised in an ecological way, that is, with natural and outdoor feed. Like fish and eggs, it should be taken at noon and combined with salad or vegetables, and very little done over low heat.

Cereals

In addition to the cereals mentioned above, we can occasionally incorporate cereals such as oats and millet into the diet . Better combined with legumes (2 parts cereal for 1 legume) and with vegetables in salad or steamed.

Vegetables

As we have seen before, the vegetable is an exquisite dish that should be introduced into the diet two or three times a week combined with cereal in the aforementioned proportions. The healthiest: lentils, azukis and chickpeas and, as always, with raw vegetables and vegetables in salad or steamed. Due to the controversy arisen with soy , if you are going to consume it, better in moderation.

Fresh fruit

Just as with vegetables there is no problem, since they contain a greater abundance of complex carbohydrates (polysaccharide sugars), the fruit contains a large amount of simple sugars that increase blood glucose levels . Therefore, although fresh fruit is an excellent nutritional option, we must take it more moderately than other types of vegetables. Try not to mix the fruits (acidic and acidic and sweet with sweets) and remember that the best time to consume fruit is in the morning or between meals, that is, without mixing it with other types of food. The worst moment: as dessert, except the cooked apple.

Nuts

Some nuts and seeds are a source of numerous essential nutrients (they have a wealth of vitamins, essential fatty acids and minerals), so it is advisable to introduce them in the diet on a regular basis but in moderation , particularly people who do not have physical wear and carry a sedentary life. On the contrary, those who play sports and suffer greater physical wear can consume greater amounts. A good way to incorporate them into the diet is to add them to salads, cereal and vegetable stews, breakfast shakes, etc. Some of the healthiest are almonds , nuts , sesame seeds ,chiia seeds , flax seeds , etc.

Algae

The seaweed are foods rich in trace elements and stimulate metabolism . They are discouraged in people with hyperthyroidism. But for the rest of the people, a small handful of seaweed every day on any plate is synonymous with health.

Probiotics

It also includes probiotic elements such as brewer’s yeast (great nutritional richness, especially vitamins and minerals), miso , tempeh , chucha horchata , kefir or yogurt .

Foods to avoid

Industrial meat and fish

Industrial animal foods (including sausages, meats , shellfish, offal, eggs, etc.) contain numerous chemical additives that modify their taste, expiration and appearance, contain hormones and antibiotics with which animals are treated, which have been treated with nothing ethical industrial processes. For all these reasons, better avoid them as much as possible.

Cow milk

More and more voices are rising against regular consumption of cow’s milk because of its many damages in the human body (especially industrially treated milk). When we talk about milk, we also talk about all its derivatives, especially cured cheeses.

Processed foods

In this category we include the vast majority of products that we find in conventional supermarkets, that is, any processed product that contains additives and preservatives, that has lost its vital elements, that has been manipulated or converted from its original and natural form.

Refined foods

This category includes white salt , refined sugar, refined cereals, artificial sweeteners, etc. All these foods, like any processed product, have been deprived of their essential biological characteristics so that they do not nourish and poison the body. Use unrefined sea salt and the best natural sweeteners and still restrict its use to the maximum.

Wheat and corn

In addition to the problem with transgenics, there are many professional voices that relate numerous diseases with the consumption of these cereals (especially with today’s industrial methods). The doctor. Signalet, as well as its predecessors Kousmine, Burger, and Fradin, point out the genetic transformations that these cereals have undergone over the years and the inability of our enzymes to metabolize their proteins. For this reason and when in doubt, it is better to take those cereals on which there is no doubt or controversy.

Well, now that we are clear about what foods are the healthiest for a balanced diet and when to take them, it’s time to take a look at some basic food hygiene issues (tips, habits and practices to eat well) and get down to the work to develop a healthy proposal for breakfast, lunch and dinner