What is a healthy diet?

[Deleted]

I was speaking to my boyfriend about this over dinner. Tonight we ate chips, lamb chops (seared), mushrooms, onion rings and I had a side of salad. I raised the question whether we ate healthy and my boyfriend said that we did, not because we ate "5 a day" or because "we eat different" but because despite our diet, we have a variety of food and mostly achieve the key nutrients and vitamins staple to a healthy diet. I wonder if this is true though. Could anyone enlighten me? I'm by no means a "weight watcher" but I don't want to become unattractive to people and mostly myself.

[Radux]

Moved to Sports & Fitness

[Exeris]

Balance is at least important and most people eat to little green stuff. If there is more meat than vegetables on your plate you are doing it wrong. Like me, god I love meat.

[- Kronos -]

I prefer to rely on doctors than anecdotal evidence.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/pyramid/

[alemaite]

There are books with over 1000 pages on this topic but to keep it short:
Healthy amount of good carbs (know it in grams) for your weight/lifestyle.
Healthy amount of good fasts (again in grams) for your weight/lifestyle
Healthy amount of protein
Enough Vitamins/Minerals/Fibers

Having these balanced meals frequently throughout the day.

It's impossible to have a perfect diet you will almost never get absoluteley everything you need but at least the first 3 should be possible. You'll have to do some research on your own since weight/height/amount of exercise and even genetics alter what exactly your body needs on a daily basis.

[Huntingbear_grimbatol]

A varied diet ensures that the body gets the various vitamines and minerales it needs to grow, develop and stay healthy byt it's not automaticly a healthy diet.
Vegetarians for instance have to watch their intake of food to ensure they get the things their bodies need, vegans arguably eats more healthy but they keep a much closer eye on their diet, unless they cheat with protein powders and other supliments like vitamines and minerales.

The best diet is down to what you do on a daily basis (work/hobby) aswell as personal needs, a healthy diet for one doesn't mean it' healthy for another.

In general though 4-5 meals per day is considered the best, usually 1 "full" meal and 3-4 small meals or snacks. Fruit and vegetables (starches, cereals and nuts) should be 3/5ths of our diet if you look on the average needs of the body aswell as history. Meats aren't that importaint in our diet, in japan they are meat 2 times a week 20 years ago and now as wealth has increased in Japan so has consumption of meat and obesity.


A good idea to take care of your diet is simply to plan ahead, you shouldn't shop while hungry because you end up buying fast food and things your body knows give a quick energy boost. Also if you plan ahead you should notice that something is wrong if you got "pizza, burger and fries, steak with bernais." after eachother, it's also a good idea to have a meat free day once a week, it's proven to help your digestive system and you can fill it up with fruits and so on to get more vitamines.

Last thing, if you eat a varied diet then pills with all kinds of vitamines and minerales are wasted. Our bodies don't generally store them so you'll end up peeing the ammount you don't need.

[meekus]

Hard to judge whether or not you eat healthy from that. But these are some of the "rules" I live by, or try to at least:

• Lots and lots of vegetables, fruits and berries.
• Good fats come from nuts, fat fish like salmon, avocado and olive oil etc.
• Little to no red meat. Better protein sources are birds, fish and beans.
• Choose whole grains for your carbohydrates.
• Skip processed or refined foods. Things you put in your mouth should be as natural as possible.

I prefer to rely on doctors than anecdotal evidence.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/pyramid/

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritio...-plate-700.jpg - That picture actually summed it all up pretty well.

[Lefeng]

As defined by the US Department of Agriculture:

http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publication...GPPamphlet.pdf

The Food Guide Pyramid doesn't account for regional worldwide diet variations as it's designed around typical American staple foods, but versions of it are available that do account for these variations.

[Blueobelisk]

Would help to know your age and your regular diet besides dinner in one night. You don't need to be a weight watcher and count points or anything so long as you don't eat crazy unhealthily. Well, depending on genetics. Some people struggle more than others.

Healthy diet kept simple: don't consume things high in sugar and don't overeat.

[johnsmith8182]

For this you have to take the vegetable and regular exercise.

[Souichirou]

Well my advice to you is meet your macros and get a scale to measure your portions making sure your getting your protein, fiber, carbs per meal. What you describe is meeting the daily requirements while eating some unhealthy foods which can be done but as the saying goes "minute on the lips life time on the hips".

The example you left would show a possibility of having a caloric surplus depending on the serving size of chips and onion rings are just bad in general 8 onion rings sits around 300 calories and 40% fat based on a 2000 calorie diet so.... a daily cheat meal like that isn't healthy but its just advice and you can do whatever you want to do.

[Dtloweca]

Balanced macros with a appropriate caloric intake and while optional I consider eating more whole foods rather than processed foods apart of a healthy diet but that's just me.

[Larwood]

For this you have to take the vegetable and regular exercise.

Exercise is not part of a diet.

[Alfred555]

The diet contain more natural vitamins, nutrition, mineral, fiber, and carb and all other important foods elements is more healthy.
Organic and natural raw foods diet is the best choice for the healthy diet rather than processed, and fast foods diet.
Eat organic and natural foods to be healthy and fit for the longer.