The balanced diet

Adapting your diet according to your age, lifestyle and budget, adopt and maintain satisfactory eating habits while having fun, this is the goal! How? By following a few simple rules of dietetics.

To function, our body needs water and nutrients. There is no such thing as a perfect food: none of them can bring all the essential nutrients to our body. To cover our needs, simply follow the recommendations of the PNNS (National Health Nutrition Program) by picking each day in 7 food groups identified by a plate of different colors: cereals and derivatives, potatoes and pulses (brown ); meat, fish and eggs (red); vegetables and fruits (green); dairy products (blue); sweet products (pink); drinks (gray); fat (yellow).

Keep in mind that the balance of food is not necessarily on a meal, or even a day, but over several days, even a week. In France, meat and fish are often eaten in a complete dish with vegetables and starchy foods, which can encourage variety of meals and the presence of a large number of food groups.

Maintain structured meals

The composition and the regularity of the meals contribute to the construction of the balance guaranteeing, at the same time, a sufficient quantity of energy and the food variety. To ensure optimal assimilation of nutrients by your body, it is advisable to distribute our food intake in 3 or 4 meals in the day. But the most important thing is to respect our biological rhythm: we will avoid all the better those little cravings that lead to snacking.

A palette of pieces

Beef, veal, lamb, pork, tripe products, horse meat: meat is more than 100 pieces to taste! The fat content of meat varies by piece, not just by species. Thus, for beef, the majority of cuts contain less than 6% fat. On the other hand, it is important to know that meat not only provides protein and iron, but also zinc, selenium and B vitamins (B6 and B12).

Adapt the quantities

Around the table, everyone does not have the same appetite, the same nutritional needs, the same tastes ... also, think about adapting the portions according to the age and level of physical activity of each.

Eating a balanced diet does not mean eating a diet ... or depriving yourself of fries or chocolate forever!

The rule is to compensate: if you fancy french fries, avoid consuming other fatty foods in the same day. A small square of chocolate with coffee can not hurt you if you have not had a very rich dessert just before! No food is bad for our balance or our health. Let's just avoid excesses in one direction - too much - or the other - not enough - they may have adverse consequences on our body.

It is now well established that excessive diets, even if varied, can favor the appearance of certain long-term pathologist (obesity ...). Diversity alone is not enough to prevent overweight. In contrast, neglecting food groups for too long can lead to deficiencies.

Move

Physical exercise, which mobilizes our muscles, regulates our appetite, increases our energy expenditure and avoids the storage of fat, is a benefit for our body as a source of relaxation for our spirit. So let's walk, let's move ... That's also good for our balance!