In the morning you take cereal and milk. Later at school or work you eat veggies and meat. Maybe at the end of the day you have some Ugali and meat sauce, then, once in a while you treat yourself with mixed berries and a piece of cake. In my opinion this is a good way to balance your meal for the day. But what are we balancing here? You will be asking yourself.
Well today I am here to write about four groups of food. These four groups of food taken with our healthy eating pattern helps us to meet our requirements for vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, and also helps to reduce our risk for many diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Vegetables and Fruits Group, this is the one of the group where by parents might be adding or hiding a lot of vegetables in our meals so we can have them, it doesn’t matter whether we like them or not. Canada’s food guide gives us some tips for a daily eating of fruits and veggies. We should at least eat one dark green and orange vegetable or fruit a day. Also, we should eat fruits and vegetables more than juice. Fruits and vegetables generally contain little fat, cholesterol or sodium and provide complex carbohydrates, fiber and nutrients.
Most fruits are low in calories, and they contain natural sugar, compared to refined sugar, which can cause problems in our blood sugar level. Dark green vegetables like kale, broccoli and spinach are all rich in calcium. Calcium is a vital nutrient for bone development and maintenance. Many thanks to those parents who snick some healthy foods in the meals they cook. For example, when my parents make Ugali, they like to cook vegetable peanut butter sauce to go with it. When I eat think wow this is great I don’t feel the taste of veggies then spinach comes in, I don’t have a choice but to eat it. The sauce still tastes good even sometimes; you can feel the peanut fading. Fruit and vegetables are the most important for nutrients to our bodies. The nutrients we get in fruits and vegetable helps to reduce the risk of some types of cancer, also, help to lower the risk for heart disease.
Grain Products Group: Can you guess the kind of food I eat more than I should? It’s called “Whole Grain and High fibre food”. Any food made from wheat, rice, oats, corn, or another cereal is a grain product. Bread, pasta, oatmeal and grits are all grain products. There are two main types of grain products: whole grains and refined grains.
Whole grains contain the entire grain. Examples include whole wheat, oats/oatmeal, barley, corn, popcorn, brown rice, wild rice, bulgur (cracked wheat), millet, and sorghum.
Refined grains have been ground into flour which results in the bran and germ being removed. This gives grains a smooth texture and this process removes some important nutrients, including B-vitamins, iron and dietary fiber. Some examples of refined grains are wheat flour, enriched bread and white rice. Most refined grains are enriched, which means that some of the B vitamins and iron are added back after processing. Fiber, however, is not added back to enriched grains. Some examples of enriched grains are wheat flour, enriched bread and white rice.
Fibre help to prevent some of cancer, lower blood sugar, cut cholesterol and help to prevent constipation. Dietary fiber can make you feel full, so you may eat fewer calories also gives energy which helps you to do lot things and stay awake. Including whole grains in your diet plan may help you reach or manage a healthy weight.
I like to eat a lot of pasta like lasagna and spaghetti, chapatti, rice and so much more insoluble grain. Now I know why my parents insist on us on how to eat soluble fiber. Soluble fibers are able to swell and hold water. When eaten regularly as part of a diet low in trans fat and saturated fat soluble fiber help with increased diet quality. Oats have a greater proportion of soluble fiber than any other grain. Canada’s food guide also says a diet rich in whole grains may also help reduce the risk of heart disease.
Milk and Alternatives: Thanks to cows and goats, because you supply us with milk and more foods which provide our bodies with nutrients that are good for our healthy. I like to drink milk a lot, I am happy because it helps my bones to grow and become stronger. Also we get snack like cheese from this group.
Let say you drink milk in the morning, and you take cheese and whole wheat crackers as a snack. At lunch time you eat macaroni and cheese or your school might sell milk of your choice and you take some with lunch. Dinner you eat lasagna, a typical Italian dish. May be as a dessert you had an ice cream. If you look at this big picture of the meal, you will find out in a day you take a lot of dairy without you even realizing it.
Last but not least, meat and alternatives. Thanks Cows, goats, chickens, fish and sheep for supplying us with meat and eggs. Meat provides protein nutrients which are iron, zinc, magnesium and vitamin B. Hair and nails are mostly made of protein. Your body uses protein to build and repair tissues. You also use protein to make enzymes, hormones, and other body chemicals. Protein is an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood. When you see yourself play sports that is meat at its work. Nuts, peanut butter, eggs, seafood fall under this group. Meat and alternatives provide protein.
All of the food groups are really important. I like fruits and vegetables because they are great for our heart. Different colors in fruits and vegetables indicate different nutrient we get, so focus on getting a little of each color in your diet every day to maximize the nutritional benefits.
A well-balanced diet provides the right vitamins, minerals and nutrients to keep the body and mind strong and healthy. Eating well can also help in the prevention of a different kind of diseases and health problems, as well as helping to maintain a healthy body weight, providing energy and promoting a general feeling of well-being. Let us balance them. Have a great week.
Joanne K.