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With so many things to watch out for today: stress levels, exercise and keeping our brain in shape, it’s easy to forget just how important a balanced diet is. We often hear on TV and in newspapers that getting your five-a-day of fruit and veg can make a difference, but the truth is getting a balanced diet is so much more than that, and it can really pay off! The best part is, a balanced diet can be tasty too. Healthy food and a healthy diet do not have to mean eating rabbit food or a strict weight loss regime. Nutrition is important, and one key aspect of it is using healthy products. This article should have you fit and ready to bounce around on the new trampoline in your garden, or play football in no time!
Eat your greens!
Most people associate the term ‘balanced diet’ with being a child and being told to eat their fruit and vegetables by parents in order to grow up big and strong. Really, this doesn’t ever stop being the case, people just stop realising the benefits. Did you know that a balanced diet won’t just help keep you fit, but can help you concentrate harder and for longer? The benefits of getting a balanced diet are almost limitless, but let’s take a look at what makes a healthy diet first.
Most people are aware of the basic food groups:
Carbohydrates
Fruit and Vegetables
Proteins
Milk and Dairy
Fatty foods
It’s important to balance these foods out, and not have too much of one and too little of the other, to maintain physical and mental wellbeing. Some scientists believe that when you crave a specific food, it can sometimes be your body’s way of telling you you’re lacking a specific protein, vitamin or mineral. Unfortunately, this might not be the case with a jam donut, but a little bit of a treat in moderation won’t hurt! Common tips for a balanced diet including regularly eating fish (sorry vegetarians), drinking lots of water and trying to avoid anything higher than 6g of salt a day.
Moderation is the key
It’s easy to get carried away and focus on the positive aspect of one food group and eat it more than the others. Carbohydrates, such as in bread and rice, are important for our body’s energy levels – however it’s easy to just eat those because they stop us feeling hungry, and let ourselves forget how important proteins or vegetables are. Fruit and vegetables should make up about a third of your daily diet. Obviously, this doesn’t always have to be exactly the case every day, but it’s a great guideline to stick to. Bread, potatoes, rice and pasta should amount to about a third of your daily diet as well, with about a sixth of your diet being protein and another sixth of your ideal daily diet being dairy products. Got that?
Why is a balanced diet so important?
I mentioned earlier that getting a balanced diet will have a big effect on how you feel, and even if you don’t intend on using your new found fitness to jump around on a trampoline you’ll still be able to take advantage of the positives. The risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease is significant reduced, even at an early age, certain types of cancer are less likely to develop and diabetes is also less likely to form. Diets rich in potassium can keep your blood pressure down, diets rich in Vitamin C can quicken the recovery of cuts and bruises and a diet balanced across the food groups will ensure a steady energy release, ensuring that you actually have the energy to go out on the trampoline if you want to!
There’s no easy way of getting a balanced diet
Just like anything worth doing, getting a balanced diet takes a little bit of effort. Most of us will be able to find one aspect of our diet that we could change and make healthier, and for the majority of us getting the balance right will be the best way of doing that. Great tips for keeping a healthy diet is cooking at least one meal a week which definitely has the correct amounts of different food groups in, or ensuring that at least four days a month every meal is a healthy one. Doing a workout and regular exercise as well as eating a healthy diet are the most effective ways of boosting your wellbeing, which can have a knock-on effect in relationships, family life and even your job. Go on, try and make a difference in your diet – I dare you. You might just fall in love with the results.
This article was written by Sarah Hickens on behalf of Trampoline Warehouse. Trampoline Warehouse specialize in professional trampolines Australia for all ages. Sarah is an active parent with a young son who she keeps entertained through a variety of activities and also a seasoned blogger who like to share her ideas and experiences.
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