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Balanced Diet

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Submitted By Tamour04
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Balanced diet and dietary needs of different life stages
A general definition of a balanced diet is food intake that not only includes all the dietary needs of the organism (person), but includes the required dietary components, e.g. water, carbohydrates, proteins, dietary fibre, etc., in the correct proportions. A healthy diet includes carbohydrates, proteins, fats, dietary fibre, water, vitamins and minerals. A person's dietary needs change as he or she passes through the different stages of life from birth to childhood, to adulthood and eventually later life. Dietary needs change in terms of the amount (energy value) and type (nutritional content) of foods required for good health.
An important general principle is that more energy is required to support periods of growth and to fuel active lives. ‘Diet’ is the word used to describe the type and amount of food we eat on a daily basis. The term ‘balanced diet’ describes the type and amount of food we need to eat to stay healthy and avoid malnutrition
Food supplies the body with energy to function and be active. Eating too much (over nutrition) or not eating a balanced diet upsets the energy balance unless excess energy is used up. For example in physical activity, overeating leads to ill health caused by being overweight. On the other hand, too low an intake of food can lead to under nutrition, nutritional deficiency diseases and starvation.
Dietary reference values (DRVs) give guidance about the energy and food requirements of different people at different life stages.
The Balance of Good Health
Although peoples dietary needs vary, the types of food we should eat on a daily basis fall into five groups. To achieve a healthy balance, we should eat them in the following relative proportions:
Plenty of bread, other cereals and potatoes
Plenty of fruit and vegetables
Moderate amounts of meat, fish and

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