What Is a Balanced Diet? A balanced diet is one that includes a variety of foods from all of the major food groups, in appropriate amounts. These food groups are: grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, meats and beans, and oils.
Why Should I Eat a Balanced Diet? Eating a balanced diet will meet your vitamin, mineral, and other nutrient requirements. It will also promote your overall health and well-being, helping you to look and feel your best. When combined with regular physical activity, a balanced diet can help prevent conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and certain cancers.
How to Eat a Balanced Diet
This figure shows the current US food guide, My Pyramid. Each of the food groups is represented as a different colored vertical stripe. Grains are represented by the color orange, vegetables by green, fruits by red, oils by yellow, dairy by blue, and meats and beans by purple. The width of each stripe at the bottom of the pyramid corresponds to the proportion of your food intake that should come from that group
The total amount of food you need to consume from each group is determined by factors such as your age, sex, and activity level. My Pyramid is meant to be used as an interactive guide My Pyramid website. The website allows you to create a personalized eating plan based on these factors. My Pyramid also shows a figure walking up steps. This represents daily exercise, which goes hand-in-hand with a balanced diet.
Brian Zehetner, RD,(Registered Dietician),MS, CSCS, Director of Anytime Health
