Question

2. List at least one specific dietary change you can make to meet the recommended servings for each food group in which you were below target. For example, if you did not consume enough fruit, you could add a banana or berries to your breakfast you met all of your food group targets, enter I met all my food group targets in the space below

Answer 1

2. Balanced diet is when all the nutrients are taken in correct proportion.

Carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals , fiber or roughage and water are the various categories of food to be taken in correct proportion.

Excess of these can cause diseases in the body and lack of these can also cause diseases. So taking these in correct proportion is balanced diet to maintain healthy life.

Carbohydrates and fat normally are not deficient in the diet because our staple food is mainly carbohydrate and fat is normally consumed in the form of cheese, butter , meat etc. If a person is consuming meat, protein deficiency is also less. So we have to see if the vitamins are consumed in correct proportion. We get vitamins from fruits and vegetables. Consuming fruits and vegetables will not suffer from these deficiencies. We get lot of fiber from greens and beans, cabbage,nuts etc.

Fiber is very important in the body. Fiber is undigestable plant matter rich in cellulose. It prevents constipation, cleans the digestive system and also reduces the absorption of fat in to the body. Fiber is also important in reducing the intake as it gives the feeling of fullness of stomach. Lack of fiber can lead to constipation.

So if fiber is not sufficient in diet, which is normally the case because consumption vegetables is normally less, one can include vegetables like, cabbage, beans, nuts, mango ,banana etc.

You can include one of these in the diet to increase the fiber content of the body.