Whenever we talk about diet, there are numerous things that come to mind. There are mainly two meanings of
word diet. They both relate to food. First one can be defined as food that we take into our body. For example, eating a well-balanced diet. Another one can be defined as losing weight.A balanced diet contains proper portions of five basic food groups. To ensure optimum health and a balanced diet, it is essential to have a proper portion of each group, each day. The amount of food needed gets smaller as we move up "pyramid". Bread, rice, cereal and pasta are in bottom group. 6 to 11 servings every day from this group are needed.
After that, on pyramid is vegetable group. Nearly everyone requires 3 to 5 servings from this group daily. The vegetable group gives you vitamins and minerals such as vitamin A and C, as per required. After that, is fruit group. We need about 2 to 4 servings of this group per day. Fruits give you vitamin C, fiber, carbohydrates and more.
Next is milk, yogurt and cheese group. People need 2 to 3 servings of this group per day. This group gives you calcium and protein. Drinking milk and eating cheese and/or yogurt is a great way to get your daily allowance.
Meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs and nuts is last group. We do not need much of this group everyday but this group is very important. 2 to 3 servings per day are required.
