Balanced Health = Balanced Meals

The U.S. government has used a pyramid model for years to illustrate proper nutrition. This has provided a guideline but not a definition of nutrition. The types of foods listed provide BASIC nutrition but not how to prepare a meal. A meal consists of all the food groups in the pyramid in various proportions. The problem is preparing all the proper foods and making them edible while including the necessary nutrition at the same time.

According to the pyramid, a meal containing grains, vegetables, milk, meat, beans, fats, and fruits is a balanced meal. However, before you can plan a balanced meal, you have to decide what you are hungry for. The most balanced meal is based on desire as much as what is prepared. Many people will eat the variety of balanced nutrition based on each separate meal. There are three nutritional ingredients to a balanced meal. Protein, carbohydrates, and fat are considered part of a balanced meal. A balanced meal contains proportions of all three nutrients. A fourth category that is addressed in the food pyramid is called phytonutrients and is only contained in fresh vegetables and fruit. Lettuce and carrots contain high levels of phytonutrients. Phytonutrients are recognized as important and have been added to the pyramid in the form of fruits and vegetables.

Preparation is important as some nutrients are lost in the cooking process. A balanced meal should contain every food listed in the U.S. government's food pyramid, but sometimes having all the suggested foods for each meal is too much food. The answer to that problem is to compensate for the missing nutrition at another meal. If a person has cereal for breakfast, then milk and bread with dinner is probably not necessary.