The importance of a healthy and balanced diet

For balanced or balanced feeding means a correct way of feeding both from a quantitative and qualitative point of view. The balanced diet has the purpose of guaranteeing an adequate contribution of energy and nutrients, preventing both shortcomings and nutritional excesses (both harmful).

Scientific studies show that health is built at the table, based on the food we eat. It is therefore important to give the right importance to a varied and balanced diet, characterized by the balanced intake of the various nutrients.

The benefits of healthy nutrition.

A correct food style contributes to building, strengthening, maintaining the body and providing the daily energy indispensable to the proper functioning of the body.

A balanced diet, combined with an active lifestyle, which provides for the daily practice of physical activity, helps to maintain an adequate body weight, allowing a more harmonious growth from a physical and more serene point of view from a psychological point of view. Eating healthy helps to prevent and treat many chronic diseases such as obesity and overweight, arterial hypertension, diseases of the cardiovascular system, metabolic diseases, type 2 diabetes, some forms of tumors. In addition, a healthy nutrition strengthens the immune system by helping to protect the body from some diseases not directly related to nutrition.

Take care of you, eat healthy!

Eat healthy and varied and the most effective way to guarantee an adequate intake of energy and nutrients. The main groups of foods that must be present in daily nutrition to guarantee a balanced diet are:

• Fruit and vegetables: Foods without fat and rich in vitamins, minerals and fibers. They play a protective role in the prevention of chronic diseases that appear in adulthood. They offer a great variety of flavors, everything you need to combine health and satisfaction. They can be eaten in all ways: fresh, frozen, in box, cooked or raw. Or in the form of 100%pure fruit juices or juices, sauces, sauces (preferably without added sugar) and soups. But be careful of the "false friends", such as some types of fruit juices or flavored drinks, the carbonated ones or the fruit nectars, all products that often contain a lot of sugar and a few fibers. A healthy diet includes at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables every day. By "portion" we mean the equivalent of approximately 80 grams or, to have a simpler idea, the amount of raw fruit or vegetables that can be contained on the palm of one hand, or half a plate of cooked vegetables. Some examples: a medium-sized tomato, a handful of cherry tomatoes, a punch of green beans, a bowl of soup, 1 apple, 2 apricots, 4-5 strawberries, 1 banana, etc. It is important to remember that seasonal fruit and vegetables are often cheaper and tasty.

• Foods rich in starch: Like cereals, bread, pasta, potatoes, polenta are foods that must be consumed daily in a balanced diet. They have a high energy value but do not contain high quantities of fat. Eating foods rich in starch is important because they contain complex carbohydrates which, unlike the simple ones proper to sugary foods, provide energy that the body gradually uses. You can therefore eat this type of food without fear of gaining weight as long as you use a light and fat -free seasoning and avoid taking other foods simultaneously that contain a high percentage of complex carbohydrates in the same meal. A limited use of pasta, bread and rice must be considered only in case of overweight or obesity.

• Milk and derivatives: Their main function is to provide calcium in highly absorbable form and usable by the body. This is essential for the construction of bone tissue and its maintenance, muscle contraction, blood coagulation, etc. Regarding cheeses, it is important to make moderate use of them and prefer fresh ones with low fat (such as cow ricotta). The cheeses should not be eaten at the end of the meal, but must be considered substitutes for meat or fish. But be careful of the "false friends": even if the cream and butter are based on milk, dairy products should not be considered, but fats of animal origin whose consumption must be limited.

• Fish, meat and eggs: They provide high quality proteins. Meat and fish also provide iron. The fish then has a protective effect due to the type of content fat (omega-3) which reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. It is recommended to eat meat, fish or eggs, 1 or 2 times a day. As for fish, it is recommended to eat it (both fresh and frozen) at least 2 times a week. It is imported to privilege lean meat (chicken, turkey, calf and rabbit) limiting the consumption of red and fat meats (pig, goose, duck). Grilled, plate or steam cooking is preferable, limiting the use of fatty sauces. It is also healthy to limit the consumption of sausages and prefer lean cured meats, however, remembering that they have a high salt content.

• Seasoning fat: Their consumption must be contained, giving preference to extra virgin olive oil and in general to vegetable oils, limiting the use of fats of animal origin such as butter, lard, lard and cream, which contain high quantities of saturated fats. The excessive consumption of fat increases the risk of overweight and the development of cardiovascular diseases. Remember that oils have a high energy value and that in addition to seasoning fats, those we add during the preparation of a dish, there are other "hidden" fats, both already present in the foods and added during their manufacture.

• Hydration: It is very important to have and maintain a well -hydrated body: drink already in the morning helps all the physiological functions and rehydrated the internal organs after night hours. Drinking at least 2 liters of water per day to keep all metabolic and organic processes active: the right amount of water for our body is essential for 

1. encourage digestion;
2. reinforce the immune system
3. Keep a smooth and luminous skin
4. Reduce inflammation
5. maintain the right body weight
6. stimulate the diuresis and the elimination of toxins

So to maintain a healthy organism (or better face the recovery periods from diseases and stress) it is necessary to adopt a healthy and regular lifestyle. They must not be rigid rules but only the references to be adopted and maintained in the long term so as to allow our body to gradually get used to a new wellness parameter. Once the change is implemented and benefited from all the healthy and mental benefits, it will be difficult to give up and return to the old habits. The important thing is to start gradually and constancy.