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A balanced diet comprising of healthy and diverse foods is key to promoting good health. After all, we are what we eat - Research continues to prove that eating healthy food promotes good health and unhealthy food habits lead to a diseased body. Foods contain vital nutrients that aid our body’s metabolic function. However, a lack of consumption of these nutrients or feeding upon the wrong kinds of food leads to an accumulation of toxins within the body, resulting in chronic diseases in the long run. A nutritious diet while ensuring overall well being, helps to maintain a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI), reduces the risk of several debilitating diseases like cancer, cardiovascular ailments, diabetes, osteoporosis and stroke. Thus a nutritious diet is important in the prevention and cure of various diseases.

Healthy Food Groups

Since no single food group can nourish the body with all the vital ingredients it requires, it is important that we consume a variety of healthy foods to derive the nutrition our body needs. There are five main food groups, they are:

• Fruits

• Vegetables

• Cereals and Pulses

• Dairy

• Poultry, Fish and Meat products
A healthy balance of these five food groups ensures essential vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre. The food group serving size will depend upon various factors like age, activity level, body size and gender. It is also important that one eat a variety of foods from within and across the food groups. As some foods from within a food group provide more nutrients than others. This will ensure that one gets the maximum recommended nutrition from the food group; besides the food variety will make for an interesting meal.
In conclusion, it must be noted that allopathic medicine treats the symptoms rather than the root cause of the disease, which is usually caused by wrong eating habits leading to an accumulation of toxins within the system. Whereas a nutritious diet can rectify underlying causes of diseases and restore one to wholeness of mind and body. Once we realise the connection between a wholesome diet and good health, our food will be our medicine and maintaining good health will be a matter of making the right food choices and leading a healthy lifestyle.

Types Of Diet
A nutritious diet is key to maintaining good health. The food that we eat or drink on any given day refers to a diet. However the foods that we eat should supply the vitamins and calories our bodies need to be nourished with for optimum function. Unlike in the past where one only heard of a weight loss diet, today there are a variety of diet types. The diet types range from the Atkins diet, South Beach diet, Mediterranean diet, blood type diet, Zone diet, low calorie diet, detoxification diet, GI diet, Gluten-free diet, juice diet and a plethora of others.
People follow various types of diets for a variety of reasons like weight loss and weight gain, religious and personal preferences, to recuperate from illnesses, as well as to combat diseases like diabetes, cancer, hyperthyroidism and other chronic conditions. Most of the popular diets have been thoroughly researched and tested for their effectiveness. However prior to embarking upon a diet, it would be prudent for you to assess whether the nutrition objectives of these diets are in sync with your dieting requirements. Personal considerations like your age, activity levels, health condition, daily calories and vitamin recommendations needs must be kept in mind.Caution must be taken to ensure that your ideal diet contains all the essential nutrition needs your body needs. A food guide pyramid and nutrition facts label on packaged foodstuff will help in selecting the right diet for you.
Several popular diets can actually harm instead of heal you. Especially those diets, which totally exclude vital food groups and restrict variations in food. For instance some diets advocate that one greatly reduce the amount of carbohydrates, while others advice an overly excessive consumption of fruits. They make unfound and false claims that the human body cannot digest protein and carbohydrates simultaneously. The fact is that different parts of our digestive tract caters to varied nutrients and absorb those nutrients. However, most of our food like beans (which contain 50% protein and 50% carbohydrate) is a combination of both proteins and carbohydrates.
Whatever diet you choose to adopt, make sure that it contains the average recommended vitamins and minerals, protein, carbohydrates, fiber and fat your body needs.

Healthy Diet
A healthy diet is a wholesome food plan which includes plenty of fruit and vegetables; is based on wholegrain bread, pasta and rice; moderate amount of proteins and is low in fat (especially saturated fat), salt and sugar.

A healthy balanced diet would consist of a variety of foods from the various food groups, including lots of fruit, vegetables and carbohydrate-based foods such as wholemeal bread and wholegrain cereals; some protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, eggs and lentils; and some dairy foods. Sound eating habits, correct choice of foods and regular physical activity is essential to a healthy lifestyle.