How to Maintain a Healthy and Balanced Diet

Maintaining a balanced and healthy diet is critical to your overall health and wellbeing. Yet so many of us struggle to do it

Nutritional recommendations can be conflicting and therefore confusing. Yello wants to help. We have compiled this quick ‘how to’ feature on maintaining a healthy and balanced diet to help you on your journey to good health.

At its simplest, eating a balanced and healthy diet means eating a wide variety of foods in the right proportions to maintain a healthy body weight.

The following is for general information purposes only; if you have any special needs or specific medical conditions should speak to your doctor before making any significant changes to your diet.

Recommended Food Groups to maintain a healthy and balanced diet

• Eat at least five portions of fruits and vegetables every day. You can choose fresh, frozen, dried, canned, or juiced fruits and vegetables. These are good sources of vitamins, minerals, and fibre.
• Include high fibre starches in your meals, such as potatoes, wholewheat pasta, brown rice, rolled oats, quinoa, and wholegrain bread.
• Have some dairy or dairy alternative products such as milk, cheese, and yoghurt. Try to eat low fat and low sugar products where possible, like 1% fat milk, reduced-fat cheese, or plain low-fat yoghurt.
• Eat beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat, and other protein. Choose lean cuts of meat, or you can opt to eat beans, peas, and lentils for a plant-based source of protein. These foods are also good sources of minerals and vitamins.   
• Choose unsaturated oils and spreads and eat them in small amounts. Unsaturated fats are healthier fats and include vegetable, olive, and sunflower oils.
• Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Aim for around six to eight glasses of water each day.

On average, women should have around 2,000 calories a day, and men should have about 2,500 calories each day. People tend to consume too many calories with diets based on too much saturated fats, sugar, and salt, with insufficient fruits and vegetables.

Use this directory to find nutritionists in your area for additional support, including personalised diet plans and recommendations.

Sources: NHS UK, Healthline and the US Preventative Medicine.