Healthy Diet
A healthy diet is one that helps maintain or improve health. It is important for the prevention of many chronic health risks such as: obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
A healthy diet involves consuming appropriate amounts of all nutrients, and an adequate amount of water. Nutrients can be obtained from many different foods, so there are a wide variety of diets that may be considered healthy diets. A healthy diet needs to have a balance of macronutrients / energy ( fats, proteins, and carbohydrates ) and micronutrients to meet the needs for human nutrition without inducing toxicity from excessive amounts.
Dietary recommendations
There are a number of diets and recommendations by numerous medical and governmental institutions that are designed to promote certain aspects of health. Evidence supports the consumption ofpolyunsaturated fats instead of saturated fats as a measure of decreasing coronary heart disease.
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization(WHO) makes the following 5 recommendations with respect to both populations and individuals:
Achieve an energy balance and a healthy weight
Limit energy intake from total fats and shift fat consumption away from saturated fats to unsaturated fats and towards the elimination of trans-fatty acids
Increase consumption of fruits and vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts
Limit the intake of simple sugar
Limit salt / sodium consumption from all sources and ensure that salt is iodized
Other recommendations :
Sufficient essential amino acids ("complete protein") to provide cellular replenishment and transport proteins. All essential amino acids are present in animals. A select few plants (such as soy and hemp) give all the essential acids. A combination of other plants may also provide all essential amino acids. Fruits such as avocado and pumpkin seeds also have all the essential amino acids.
Essential micronutrients such as vitamins and certain minerals.
Avoiding directly poisonous (e.g. heavy metals) and carcinogenic (e.g. benzene) substances;
Avoiding foods contaminated by human pathogens (e.g. E. coli, tapeworm eggs).
American Heart Association
The American Heart Association recommends a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and healthful fatty acids and that limit saturated fat.
[Diets against specific conditions
In addition to dietary recommendations for the general population, there are many specific diets that have primarily been developed to promote better health in specific population groups, such as people with high blood pressure (as in low sodium diets or the more specific DASH diet), or people who are overweight or obese (in weight control diets). However, some of them may have more or less evidence for beneficial effects in normal people as well.
Diets against hypertension
Alow sodium diet is beneficial for people with high blood pressure. A Cochrane review published in 2008 concluded that a long term (more than 4 weeks) low sodium diet in Caucasians has a useful effect to reduce blood pressure, both in people with hypertension and in people with normal blood pressure.
The DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) is a diet promoted by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (part of the NIH, a United States government organization) to control hypertension. A major feature of the plan is limiting intake of sodium, and it also generally encourages the consumption of nuts, whole grains, fish, poultry, fruits and vegetables while lowering the consumption of red meats, sweets, and sugar. It is also "rich in potassium, magnesium, and calcium, as well as protein".
Also, evidence shows that the Mediterranean diet improves cardiovascular outcomes.
Weight control diets
Weight control diets aim to maintain a controlled weight. In most cases dieting is used in combination with physical exercise to lose weight in those who are overweight or obese.
Diets to promote weight loss are generally divided into four categories: low-fat, low-carbohydrate, low-calorie, and very low calorie.A meta-analysis of six randomized controlled trials found no difference between the main diet types (low calorie, low carbohydrate, and low fat), with a 2–4 kilogram weight loss in all studies. At two years, all calorie-reduced diet types cause equal weight loss irrespective of the macronutrients emphasized.
Diets to prevent cancer
Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective, compiled by World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research, reports that there is significant relation between lifestyle (including food consumption) and cancer prevention. The same report recommends eating mostly foods of plant origin and aiming to meet nutritional needs through diet alone, while limiting consumption of energy-dense foods, red meat, alcoholic drinks and salt and avoiding sugary drinks, processed meat and mouldy cereals (grains) or pulses (legumes).
A healthy diet involves consuming appropriate amounts of all nutrients, and an adequate amount of water. Nutrients can be obtained from many different foods, so there are a wide variety of diets that may be considered healthy diets. A healthy diet needs to have a balance of macronutrients / energy ( fats, proteins, and carbohydrates ) and micronutrients to meet the needs for human nutrition without inducing toxicity from excessive amounts.
Dietary recommendations
There are a number of diets and recommendations by numerous medical and governmental institutions that are designed to promote certain aspects of health. Evidence supports the consumption ofpolyunsaturated fats instead of saturated fats as a measure of decreasing coronary heart disease.
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization(WHO) makes the following 5 recommendations with respect to both populations and individuals:
Achieve an energy balance and a healthy weight
Limit energy intake from total fats and shift fat consumption away from saturated fats to unsaturated fats and towards the elimination of trans-fatty acids
Increase consumption of fruits and vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts
Limit the intake of simple sugar
Limit salt / sodium consumption from all sources and ensure that salt is iodized
Other recommendations :
Sufficient essential amino acids ("complete protein") to provide cellular replenishment and transport proteins. All essential amino acids are present in animals. A select few plants (such as soy and hemp) give all the essential acids. A combination of other plants may also provide all essential amino acids. Fruits such as avocado and pumpkin seeds also have all the essential amino acids.
Essential micronutrients such as vitamins and certain minerals.
Avoiding directly poisonous (e.g. heavy metals) and carcinogenic (e.g. benzene) substances;
Avoiding foods contaminated by human pathogens (e.g. E. coli, tapeworm eggs).
American Heart Association
The American Heart Association recommends a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and healthful fatty acids and that limit saturated fat.
[Diets against specific conditions
In addition to dietary recommendations for the general population, there are many specific diets that have primarily been developed to promote better health in specific population groups, such as people with high blood pressure (as in low sodium diets or the more specific DASH diet), or people who are overweight or obese (in weight control diets). However, some of them may have more or less evidence for beneficial effects in normal people as well.
Diets against hypertension
Alow sodium diet is beneficial for people with high blood pressure. A Cochrane review published in 2008 concluded that a long term (more than 4 weeks) low sodium diet in Caucasians has a useful effect to reduce blood pressure, both in people with hypertension and in people with normal blood pressure.
The DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) is a diet promoted by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (part of the NIH, a United States government organization) to control hypertension. A major feature of the plan is limiting intake of sodium, and it also generally encourages the consumption of nuts, whole grains, fish, poultry, fruits and vegetables while lowering the consumption of red meats, sweets, and sugar. It is also "rich in potassium, magnesium, and calcium, as well as protein".
Also, evidence shows that the Mediterranean diet improves cardiovascular outcomes.
Weight control diets
Weight control diets aim to maintain a controlled weight. In most cases dieting is used in combination with physical exercise to lose weight in those who are overweight or obese.
Diets to promote weight loss are generally divided into four categories: low-fat, low-carbohydrate, low-calorie, and very low calorie.A meta-analysis of six randomized controlled trials found no difference between the main diet types (low calorie, low carbohydrate, and low fat), with a 2–4 kilogram weight loss in all studies. At two years, all calorie-reduced diet types cause equal weight loss irrespective of the macronutrients emphasized.
Diets to prevent cancer
Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective, compiled by World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research, reports that there is significant relation between lifestyle (including food consumption) and cancer prevention. The same report recommends eating mostly foods of plant origin and aiming to meet nutritional needs through diet alone, while limiting consumption of energy-dense foods, red meat, alcoholic drinks and salt and avoiding sugary drinks, processed meat and mouldy cereals (grains) or pulses (legumes).