We hear it all the time, for good health you must eat healthily and exercise. But what exactly is healthy eating? Healthy eating essentially means consuming the right quantities of foods from all food groups to lead a healthy life. Diet is often referred to as some dietary regimen for losing weight. Diet simply means the food we eat.

A nutritionally sound diet promotes good health. A healthy diet must include several food, groups. The crucial part of healthy eating is a balanced diet. A balanced diet, a healthy diet, means consuming from all the different food groups in the right quantities, so you can have the right amount and mix of the nutrients and minerals your body needs. Nutritionists say there are five main food groups – whole grains, fruit, vegetables, protein, and dairy. I differ in opinion as a vegetarian regarding the food groups, which I have addressed in an earlier blog, but that’s not my emphasis here. My emphasis is a balanced, healthy diet. However, too many in our country do not embrace the guiding principles for good health.

Our country is facing a chronic problem with the increasing rate of obesity in the overall population, which includes adults as well as our children. An abstract from the Journal of American Medicine reads, “ More than one-third (34.9% or 78.6 million) of U.S. adults are obese.” The states of Mississippi and Alabama alone have obesity rates above 30% while 22 other states have obesity rates all over 25%. Moreover, the percentage of overweight children in the United States is growing at an alarming rate, with 1 out of 3 now considered overweight or obese.

The World Health Organization (WHO) makes the following recommendations.

• We should aim for an energy balance and a healthy bodyweight.
• We should limit our energy consumption from total fats.
• We should also aim for more unsaturated fats and less saturated fats.
• We should up our consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts. We should consume, as little simple sugars are possible.
• We should also limit our consumption of salt/sodium.

Isn’t it time, you embrace good health, and a good life?