What Exactly is a "Healthy Diet"?

We all ask ourselves what kind of a diet do I need to be eating? Well, with the easily available and inexpensive food provided for us in society today its tough to determine if we are eating fine because everyone eats this way, or are we all doing it wrong? And what exactly is a "healthy diet"? In order to determine this we should identify the characteristics of a healthy diet. The dietary reference intake (DRI) standards say that our diet should consist of 45-65% of calories from carbohydrates, 20-35% of calories from fat, and 10-35% of calories from protein. In order to determine the amount of calories you need you can use the basal metabolic (BMR) rate calculator. Your BMR will tell you how many calories your body needs to function properly if you spent the entire day sedentary. To calculate your BMR you can use the equation: BMR = 10m(weight) + 6.25h(height) - 5a(age) +s(sex). For males add 5, and for females subtract 161. You can also find a number of calculators online as well as ones where you can include your physical activity if you are not sedentary. Here is a link for a BMR calculator: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

Well now that we know the balance of intake and how many calories we need we should understand the kinds of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats to consume. The carbohydrates we should consume are whole grains and fruits and vegetables, we should avoid refined grains and added sugars. The proteins we should consume

should be plant-based proteins such as beans, grains, vegetables, and seeds or nuts and lean meats, fish, and other seafood. Lastly the fats we should consume should be unsaturated fats, or as I call them healthy fats. Some examples of these fats are avocados, nuts, and olive oil.

Sounds simple enough right? Well eating a well-balanced healthy diet in the United States in this day and age is actually very difficult. With the massive over-portioned foods, fried foods, easy grab foods, and every other food on the shelf with added (trans) fats and high fructose corn syrup and a million other ingredients foods, it’s almost impossible to buy and consume everything healthy. Our whole lives society has trained our brains to want junk food and lots of it. Every social event we attend usually is surrounded around food, and we all know it’s not always the healthiest. Physically, socially, and psychologically it is hard to constantly choose to eat the healthiest foods possible. The best solution to this is to surround yourself with people who want to lead a healthy lifestyle as well. Know the kinds of foods you can eat at social events, and know your portion sizes when you eat out. Don’t buy the foods with a million added ingredients and fill your fridge with a massive selection of fresh fruits and vegetables. And lastly write out a diet plan and plan your whole days worth of food.

Sizer, F. & Whitney, E. (2013).  Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies (13th ed.).  Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

Wikihow. (2014). “How to Calculate How Many Calories You Need to Eat to Lose Weight”. Retrieved from: http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-How-Many-Calories-You-Need-to-Eat-to-Lose-Weight