A healthy diet is crucial for maintaining overall health by providing essential nutrients while avoiding overconsumption of harmful foods. The World Health Organization recommends balanced calorie intake, limiting unhealthy fats and sugars, and increasing plant-based foods. Key food groups include whole grains, fruits, vegetables, protein-rich foods, and dairy, all of which contribute to reducing the risk of chronic diseases and improving general health.

2. HEALTHY DIET
• A healthy diet is one that helps maintain or improve overall
health.
• It provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, adequate
essential amino acids from protein, essential fatty acids, vitamins,
minerals, and adequate calories.
• The requirements for a healthy diet can be met from a variety of
plant-based and animal-based foods.
• It supports energy needs and provides for human nutrition
without exposure to toxicity or excessive weight gain from
consuming excessive amounts.

3. WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION
The World Health Organization (WHO) makes the following 5
recommendations with respect to both populations and individuals:
• Eat roughly the same amount of calories that your body is using.
• Limit intake of fats, and prefer less unhealthy unsaturated fats to
saturated fats and trans fats.
• Increase consumption of plant foods, particularly fruits, vegetables,
legumes, whole grains and nuts.
• Limit the intake of sugar. A 2003 report recommends less than 10%
simple sugars.
• Limit salt / sodium consumption from all sources and ensure that salt is
iodized.

4. UNHEALTHY DIET
• An unhealthy diet fails to provide your
body with the correct amounts and types
of nutrients for maximum health.
• Certain types of foods are more likely to
cause medical problems than others. Know
what makes up an unhealthy diet and
avoid those nutrition pitfalls.

5. How do you define healthy
eating?
• The crucial part of healthy eating is a balanced diet. A balanced
diet - or a good diet - means consuming from all the different
good groups in the right quantities.
• Nutritionists say there are five main food groups –
 whole grains
 fruit and vegetables
 protein
 diary
 fat & sugar

6. Whole grains
• Whole grains are generally good sources of dietary fibre; most
refined (processed) grains contain little fibre.
• It helps reduce blood cholesterol levels and may lower risk of
heart disease.
• People who eat whole grains as part of a healthy diet have a
reduced risk of some chronic diseases.
• Grains are important sources of many nutrients, including fiber, B
vitamins and minerals.

7. Fruit and vegetables
• Fruit and vegetables have a high vitamin, mineral
and fibre content - these nutrients are vital.
• Fruit and vegetables may protect from
developing heart disease, diabetes type 2, and
cancer for your body to function well.

8. Protein
• We need protein for the building and repairing of tissue in our
body.
• Protein-rich foods also include essential minerals, such as iron,
magnesium, zinc, as well as B vitamins.
• The best sources are beef, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products,
nuts, seeds, and legumes like black beans and lentils.

9. Legumes
• There are actually two types of legumes.
• Mature legumes are the dried seeds found inside pods,
for example kidney beans or chickpeas.
• Immature legumes are those that have been harvested
before they mature, such as green beans and garden
peas.
• Some of the most common legumes include alfalfa,
clover, peas, beans, lentils, lupins, and peanuts.

10. Dairy
• Although butter, cream and even sometimes eggs are
often classed as dairy products, in nutrition they are
more frequently placed in the protein (eggs) or fat &
sugar category.
• Dairy products are a good source of calcium which is
important for healthy bones and teeth.
• Dairy products include milk, yoghurts, cheese, and some
soya dairy products.

11. Fats and sugars
• These include sugar, chocolate, cakes, biscuits, jam, butter,
margarine, mayonnaise, non-diet sodas, etc. - all products with a
very high fat or sugar content.
• There are two basic types of fats - saturated and unsaturated.
Cream, margarine and fried foods are high in saturated fats, while
vegetable oils and oily fish are rich in unsaturated fats.
• Saturated fat consumption should be kept to a minimum because
excess consumption significantly increases the risk of developing
such diseases as heart disease.
• Even sugary foods and drinks, like some sodas and sweets should
be kept to a minimum because they are high in calories and bad
for your teeth.

12. Benefits of having a healthy diet
• Weight Loss or Maintenance
• Blood Sugar
• Decreased Risk of Heart Disease
• Decreased Cancer Risk

13. Weight Loss or Maintenance
• Use fruit, vegetables, lean protein and whole grains to
replace high-fat, high-calorie foods.
• Staying within your required calorie range is vital for
achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.
• The fibre in whole grains, fruits and vegetables help fill
you up faster and keep you full longer than foods that
are loaded with sugar.
• The longer you are satiated, the less likely you are to
exceed your ideal calorie range.

14. Blood Sugar
• Sugary foods, such as white bread, fruit juice, soda and
ice cream, cause a spike in blood sugar.
• While your body can handle occasional influxes of
glucose, over time this can lead to insulin resistance,
which can go on to become type 2 diabetes.
• Complex carbohydrates, such as whole grain bread,
oatmeal and brown rice, cause a slow release of sugar
into the bloodstream, which helps regulate blood sugar.

15. Decreased Risk of Heart
Disease
• Regularly consuming high-fat foods can increase
your cholesterol and triglyceride levels, which
can cause plaque to build-up in your arteries.
• Over time, this can lead to heart attack, stroke
or heart disease.
• Eating a moderate amount of healthful fats such
as those found in olive oil, avocados, fish, nuts
and seeds helps protect your heart.

16. Decreased Cancer Risk
• Fruits and vegetables are loaded with antioxidants,
which are substances that seek and neutralize potentially
damaging cells called free radicals.
• Free radicals contain an uneven amount of electrons,
making them highly unstable.
• As they seek out and steal electrons from healthy cells,
they can cause damage.
• Antioxidants neutralize free radicals by donating one of
their electrons, turning the free radical into a stable
molecule.

17. BIBLIOGRAPHY
• http://dietrebel.com/what-are-legumes/
• http://kidshealth.org/kid/nutrition/food/prote
in.html
• http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/advantage
s-eating-healthy-food-3731.html
• http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles
/153998.php