For years we have grown up with the idea that a balanced diet means “eat everything” or “do not leave out any food groups.” Unfortunately this is totally untrue. Hundreds of thousands of people who “eat everything” are suffering heart attacks, diabetes, hypertension, arteriosclerosis, renal failure and other diseases related to poor nutrition.

With this in mind, including the famous food pyramid does not appear to give a very good guide to balance our diet, because one can follow to the letter and not getting enough vitamins and fiber, and may be consuming a dangerously high level of saturated fat.

The nutritional information label found on packaged foods is totally inadequate, because the list omits most of the nutrients essential to our diet. Errors that have caused the worldwide epidemic of obesity (along with all related diseases) are large gaps in the official nutritional guidelines:

1. Do not differentiate between complex carbohydrates (natural) and simple (refined)
2. Do not warn about the great danger of consuming saturated fats and hydrogenated fats (Trans)
3. Encouraged to consume processed oils, sugar and salt in dangerous quantities.
4. The recommended servings of fruits, vegetables and grains are still very small
5. Not differentiate between animal protein and vegetable

Balanced Healthy Diet and Its Benefits

Nutrients for a truly balanced diet. A balanced diet should consist of the following nutrients, in this order of importance:

1. Dietary fiber – helps, improves natural digestion and absorption of nutrients
2. Phytochemicals – powerful natural anti-cancer
3. Antioxidants – to help the self-healing and anti aging by delaying the cell aging
4. Vitamins – the best are those that come naturally in fruits and vegetables
5. Minerals – like calcium, iron, magnesium, selenium, etc.. Our bodies need
6. Fatty acids – especially Omega 3, 6 and 9
7. Carbohydrates – energy source and basis for tissue formation
8. Proteins – the basis for a structured, regular transport.
9. Fat or fat – are used for forming cells, and regulate energy reserves form

The vast majority of the population consumed mainly unbalanced food is prepared from synthetic ingredients and / or chemical processes, which offer many calories, but its content is very low for the first 6 nutrients from the list. Our body is designed for a natural diet that relies mainly on intrinsic feed, for example, many vegetables contain all the nutrients listed in adequate quantities in our diet. In contrast, one of the most common processed ingredients, sugar, carbohydrates contain only “simple”, and thus contributes only energy (calories) but no nutrition.

The secret is in knowing the ingredients that we must strive and that we must avoid at all costs to prevent or even reverse degenerative diseases, starting of course with obesity. Andalusia decides wisely, does not sacrifice the taste of dishes but significantly improve our health and we can also lose weight quickly.
However, a balanced diet really is to give our body all the nutrients the body needs, no matter if we were a “group” or integrate another “group” of food.