Balanced Diet: Why Is It Important?

Components Of A Balanced Diet

A balanced diet has different components that are based on the nutrients it provides to the human body.

Generally, the food that we consume gets broken down into simpler substances referred to ^[8] as nutrients.

These nutrients could be easily absorbed and utilized by your body to give it the required energy.

Generally, a balanced diet has two major components namely, the nutritive and non-nutritive components.

1. Nutritive Components

   As the name itself suggests, the nutritive components^[9] of a balanced diet aim at providing energy and calories to the human body to help it to function.

   The nutritive components will provide some nutritional value to your body.

   These components may be generally classified^[10] into two major groups, namely, the macronutrients or the major nutrients and the micronutrients or the minor nutrients.

   • Micronutrients

     The name of these nutrients is quite self-explanatory because they may be required^[11] by your body in just small amounts.

     The major elements included in the minor nutrients of the micronutrients are minerals and vitamins.

     These elements are extremely crucial for the normal functioning of the human body, but they may just be required in small amounts.

     But you must get this small amount of minor nutrients like minerals and vitamins because they help to facilitate different chemical reactions in the body.

     Let’s know about both these elements in detail.

     • Vitamins: With a plethora of crucial functions, vitamins are organic substances that are important^[12] for life and health.

       Generally, Vitamins might be divided into two major groups known as water-soluble vitamins and fat-soluble vitamins.

       The water-soluble vitamins include vitamin B group and vitamin C on the other hand, the fat-soluble vitamins include vitamins A, E, D, and K.

       Each of these vitamins helps the body to perform some crucial functions, and deficiency of any vitamin might lead to different deficiency diseases.

       The human body cannot synthesize the vitamins on its own, so it may become crucial for you to get them from your balance diet.

     • Minerals: Minerals are other micronutrients that may be required^[13] in very small amounts for the proper growth and function of the human body.

       The different types of minerals which you may get from your balanced diet include Iron, phosphorus, calcium, chlorine, zinc, sodium, magnesium, fluoride, iodine, potassium, and manganese.

       Each nutrient could be received from a particular food source and its deficiency may lead to certain diseases.

   • Macronutrients

     As the name itself suggests the macronutrients are required^[14] in larger proportion by the human body.

     The different types of macronutrients or the major nutrients which you may aim at getting from your balanced Diet could include fats, proteins, and carbohydrates.

     • Fats: With nine kcal per gram, fats are a concentrated source of energy, which are made from fatty acids in different proportions.

       Dietary fats like oils, butter, etc come from two main sources, namely visible sources and invisible sources.

       The invisible fat is present in plant and animal foods, whereas the visible fat could be found in cooking oils.

       You must consume good quality fat in an adequate^[15] amount which could provide you with the required polyunsaturated fatty acids.

       Moreover, the type of fat can even influence and regulate the level^[16] of triglycerides and cholesterol in your body.

       The requirement of Fat for children and infants is particularly high because their energy requirement per body weight might^[17] be twice as compared to those of adults.

       Due to this, adults may even need to restrict the consumption of saturated fats and cholesterol because excess of these substances may lead to different diseases like cancer, obesity, or cardiovascular diseases.

     • Carbohydrates: With nearly four kcal per gram, Carbohydrates are the major sources ^[18] of energy that you could receive from your balanced diet.

       Carbohydrates are generally classified^[19] into two types, namely simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates.

       Different types of simple carbohydrates may be found in different sources, like lactose in milk, sucrose in sugar and glucose, and Fructose in vegetables, honey, and fruits.

       On the other hand, complex carbohydrates, namely the complex Polysaccharides like starch may be found^[20] in pulses, cereals, millets, root vegetables, and glycogen in animal foods.

       Other than this, other complex Carbohydrates may be resistant to digestion and hence are referred to as the dietary fiber component.

       Dietary fiber reduces the absorption rate of carbohydrates and fats in the human body and hence amplifies the satiety value of the human body.

     • Proteins: Protein refers^[21] to the complex molecules that may be formed from different amino acids.

       The human body contains^[22] half the protein in the form of muscle, cartilage, and bone.

       You must get protein from your food because they are the primary functional and structural component of the human cell.

       The different amino acids are generally classified^[23] into two types namely the Essential amino acids and non-essential amino acids.

       The essential amino acids cannot be synthesized in your body and hence you may need to get them from your diet.

       On the other hand, nonessential amino acids can be synthesized in the human body.

       The protein requirements may vary based on different factors like your age, stress, and even physiological status.

       The growing children, infants, and pregnant women are the people who have different stress or illness, so they may require^[24] more protein as compared to other individuals.

   Now let’s have a glance at the non-nutritive components of a balanced diet-

2. Non-nutritive components

   As the name itself suggests, the non-nutritive components of a balanced diet include the components that do not provide any nutritive value.

   There are different non-nutritive components that you may consume from your daily diet like highly processed food, and beverages like tea, coffee, and so on.

   These components may be found in different forms, like the flavor compound, color compound, roughage, fiber, water, a plant compound, and whatnot.