how does balanced diet play an important role in protecting us from disease and keeping us healthy?

Importance of a Balanced Diet to Maintain a Healthy Body

Food and water are the basis of human survival as without a proper diet, you will not be able to survive for a long time. The food that we consume gets digested in the gastrointestinal tract. The nutrients present in food are absorbed in the blood and then passed to the body tissues and cells. Hence, if you have a balanced diet, your body cells and tissues receive the right amounts of micro and macro nutrients, which keeps you healthy.

On the other hand, eating a diet which is not balanced, does not provide you with the necessary nutrients and makes you susceptible to several infections and lifestyle disorders.

Let us understand the importance of a balanced diet to maintain a healthy body:

• Boosts Immunity – Having a strong immune system is quite important as it helps to protect us from various infection causing microorganisms. Being malnourished makes you more susceptible to infections and causes you to fall sick more often. However, a well balanced diet with the right nutrients strengthens your immune system and lowers the risk of infection. Thus, a balanced diet is important to maintain a healthy body by boosting your immunity and keeping infections at bay.
• Reduces Risk of Diseases – A balanced diet containing fruits and vegetables also contains antioxidants which protect the body cells from free radicals, which can be quite harmful for us. Antioxidants help reduce the risk of inflammatory diseases and even some cancers to a large extent. By eating beans, fruits, nuts and green leafy vegetables in your balanced diet, you can reduce the risk of diseases like high blood cholesterol and heart diseases. This is one of the reasons why a balanced diet is important to maintain a healthy body.
• Improves Brain Health - As different kinds of fishes and nuts form a vital part of your balanced diet, they helps to improve your brain health. Such foods are quite rich in omega 3 fatty acids and vitamins A and E which work as a brain tonic. Also, it is quite useful in reducing stress, depression and anxiety as it contains ingredients which can elevate your mood. A balanced diet is important to maintain a healthy body by ensuring a healthy brain and a stress free mind.
• Provides Energy – An important benefit of a balanced diet to maintain a healthy body is that it provides the body with sustainable energy for a long time. A balanced diet which has the right proportions of vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates keeps the body energetic and fueled for a long time. Vegetables, cereals, fruits and whole grains digest slowly in the body due to the presence of carbohydrates in it. This helps to maintain proper levels of glucose and insulin in the body and keep it steady for long. Fish, eggs, poultry and lean meat are all rich in protein thereby providing energy to the body.
• Controls Weight – With an array of foods being present in a balanced diet, it helps to maintain an ideal body weight. If your balanced diet contains more of fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy products and less of meat, unsaturated fats and sugars then your body will stay healthy and maintain a healthy weight. Excess weight increases the risk of many diseases; hence managing weight with a balanced diet is important to maintain a healthy body.