A Healthy Diet
Eating a well balanced diet and consuming less sugar, salt and saturated fats, are the fundamentals for a healthy diet. A healthy diet consists of a mixture of various healthy foods. These are: Staples such as cereals (quick bread, wheat, barley or rice), vegetables (apples, carrots, celery or squash), fruits (pear, apple, banana, grapes), legumes (peas, beans or lentils), dairy products (cheese, yoghurt, milk, sour cream, ice cream), breads and other baked goods (baked brown rice, bread, whole-wheat flour, whole-grain pasta, pasty, macaroni, potato, tomato, quiches). These are not all the healthy foods that a healthy diet consists of but these are some of the more common ones.
A healthy diet is said to be one where each of the five food groups are satisfied, each nutrient is equally present in the food and each group of food contributes to the balanced diet. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides a dietary guide for the purpose of promoting good health. The dietary intake guide for the United States, published by the department, contains detailed information about the types and amounts of food groups and other details about each of them. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the National Research Council provide further details on the nutritional content of various food groups.
The dietary information for the United States does not mention the vegetable category specifically but a list of fruits and vegetables is mentioned followed by a description of the main sources of calories for each item. Some fruits and vegetables are included in foods that have low calories but some vegetables are high in calories. Some processed food are also high in calories. Fruits and vegetables are a part of a healthy diet as they provide all the nutrients that are required by the body.
A list of items that constitute a healthy diet is also available on the internet. It gives an idea about what should be included in a healthy diet so as to keep off strokes. The American Heart Association provides a web page that gives a lot of information about the prevention of stroke. It has links to many sites and information about different exercises and therapies that are useful in preventing strokes.
A healthy diet includes foods that are rich in vitamin E, whole grain cereal, low-fat dairy products, fish oils, nuts, seeds, soybean oil, fruits and vegetables. Low-fat dairy products, e.g. low-fat milk, contain no trans fat and therefore are considered healthy diet. Vegetables that are rich in vitamin E include turnip greens, kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, swiss chard, cabbage, kale, celery and other leafy green vegetables.
A healthy diet includes a well-balanced diet and a regular intake of fresh fruit and vegetable. Fresh fruits and vegetables are very important because they are easily digested and contain a large amount of essential nutrients and minerals. A regular consumption of raw fruit and vegetable juice is very beneficial for the overall health of a person. A healthy food environment minimizes the risks of heart attacks and strokes. These diseases are more prominent in people who live in a city or in a metropolitan area where there is poor or insufficient public health, good physical education and adequate access to fresh fruit and vegetable shops.