A healthy diet helps protect health and prevent disease. Many studies relate the lack of a healthy diet with chronic diseases (cardiovascular, obesity, diabetes, cancer, etc.), thus demonstrating that an inappropriate diet is one of the main determinants of the development of these diseases.

A healthy food allows for your organism to function normally, to cover your basic physiological needs, and on the other hand, it reduces the risk of suffering diseases in the short and long term. It is not a direct cause-effect relationship, but it does contribute to increasing the risk of the appearance and development of these diseases.

Foods for healthy eating

A varied and healthy diet should include the following food groups: cereals, fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, dairy products, meats and fish, eggs and sugar. A combination of these foods will provide us with the nutrients necessary to carry a healthy diet. We must maintain a balance so that the excessive consumption of one food does not replace another necessary.

On the other hand, in a healthy diet, the amounts consumed must be moderated so as not to pass us by and maintain an adequate weight, thus avoiding problems of overweight and obesity. It must also adapt to physiological needs (age and sex) and balanced, respecting the recommended percentages of nutrients: carbohydrates around 60%, fats 25% and proteins 15%.

How to measure a healthy diet?

The nutritional pyramid helps us measure the balance of nutrients that our body needs. In the new modification of this pyramid, culinary techniques are included, since depending on the way of cooking the food will be more or less healthy. In this way, the healthiest cooking technique is steam cooking, iron or oven, leaving aside the fried foods. In addition, it is recommended to use glass and silicone in front of the plastic.

To measure if your diet is healthy, you must take into account the following nutritional recommendations, daily food (2-3 times a day), red and processed meats or sausages, with a consumption of 1-2 a week, combined with vegetables, avoid products rich in sugar r (pastries, soft drinks) and moderate salt (snacks) and saturated fats.

Diseases without healthy eating

On the contrary, a bad diet, with excess of saturated fats, salt, sugar and the way of cooking certain foods (fried and battered) are associated with some diseases. According to the WHO, about 2.7 million people die each year from poor diet, low consumption of fruits and vegetables. Some of the diseases that are related to poor diet are the following – diabetes, cancer, overweight and obesity, oral problems etc. Fast food, rich in fats and sugars or precooked foods are foods that favor the proliferation of cariogenic bacteria.