Healthy Diet

What do you think constitutes a healthy diet . What comes first to your mind when you think of healthy diet . All of us probably have our own idea as to what constitutes a healthy diet . Generally, our first visualization of a healthy diet is lots of greens. When we think healthy we think green because color green is the dominant color of vegetation around us and vegetation is indeed the primary source of healthy and nutritious food.

It is known to us that green leaves are able to make their food with the help of Sunlight . What is not much known is Sun emits its maximum light in color green . It appears yellow or golden to us because of our atmosphere. Sun being the primary source of life force , actually indeed emits in color green.

According to a survey conducted by American Dietary Association , 20% of people surveyed on their food choices said- oh! Leave me alone. A large majority said- I know I should eat healthy but there are obstacles. And half the people surveyed said it is easier to do their taxes then to figure out all the components of a healthy diet .

For various reasons it is sometimes difficult to implement recommendation of dietary guidelines in our diet . Most of the time what we think we eat and what we actually consume do not quite line up .

The main characteristics of a healthy diet is adequacy along the spectrum of macronutrients , carbohydrates , fats , proteins , vitamins and minerals and balance between them across various food groups. Too much or too little of anything is generally not a healthy diet , so to speak.

Our acceptable macronutrient distribution range is
Carbohydrates- 45- 65% of total calories , which is about 225-325 grams for a 2000 calorie diet.
Protein- 10- 35 % of total calories , which is about 50-175 grams for a 2000 calorie diet
Fat- 20- 35% of total calories , which is about 44-78 grams for a 2000 calorie diet. Thus for our healthy diet we must procure our carbohydrate , proteins etc from across various food groups for proper adequacy and balance .