All of us want good health and physical fitness and we make a number of efforts to achieve it. One of the key factors influencing your health and fitness level is your diet and nutrition. The intake of all the nutrients in the right amount is what is the basic idea behind a balanced diet. In this blog, Rubina Ratnakar writes about understanding the food pyramid in detail.
A food pyramid is a diagrammatic representation of the foods we should eat and their amount. It consists of five different levels depicting five different food groups. It becomes quite easy for us to plan our diet once we understand the food pyramid.
A pyramid is broad at the base and gradually becomes narrow when we move upwards. Starting from the first level, we observe it is filled with foods like fresh fruits and vegetables. You can eat these foods in a huge amount since they are healthy and can be eaten in the form of salad, at any time of the day.
On level two, you will find out grains and cereals. Bread, Rice, Potatoes, and many grains come on this place and can be eaten with your meals as an additional item. Rice is perfect to enjoy with any type of meal you want to have.
As we move up to level 3, we find out that the intake is much lesser than the first two levels, and this level is occupied by food items like cheese, yogurt, curd, and other dairy products. These products should be taken in a limited amount as they contain a lot of fat.
Moving on to the next level, level four is occupied by meat, eggs, and nuts of various types. These are to be taken in a very lesser amount, for instance, twice a week. As they are rich in fat, they may ruin your fitness and diet schedule if taken in an inadequate amount.
On the topmost level, we have foods that contain pure fats. Oils and fats of all kinds with high calorie and fat content are set on this level. They should be avoided as much as possible. Since you are familiar with the required amount of nutrients by the body, you would be able to decide what to put on your plate, better.
Don’t forget to check out our latest blogs on ‘Gluten-free foods‘ and ‘All about steroids’ by Rubina Ratnakar.