Diet is what we eat and drink in a day. Diet includes taking variety of foods from different food groups presented in food pyramid. People often eat more amounts of food stuff that they like much. This is one of the reasons for getting malnutrition. A balanced diet comes from taking variety foods mentioned in food pyramid in limited sizes. Balanced diet is very important to keep illness and health problems away.
Regular diet is a way of following and taking balanced diet daily.
A healthy diet is also termed as balanced diet. Healthy diet is a way of taking more fruits, vegetables, fiber, starch containing foods and limiting high fat content foods and sugars.
Calorie is a unit of energy. We need energy to perform our daily activities like walking, running, lifting. The amount of calories we need in a day depends on the extent of our physical activity. We get energy (calories) from foods that we eat. If we take foods in high calories and are not burned by physical activity, the excess calories are stored and deposited in fat tissues and leads to obesity. Therefore, intake of balanced diet with adequate calories is an important step in maintaining weight and preventing health problems.
The calories we need in a day depend on the calories we burn in a day. The total calorie needs of our body depend on three components. These three are:
Basal metabolic rate (BMR)
Calories burned during physical activity
Thermic effects of food
The number of calories burned in a day equals the total of calories burned in these three ways.
Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the amount of energy or calories used by our body to perform cellular metabolism. This also includes heart beat, respiration, maintaining body temperature etc.
Calories burned during physical activity are also a factor for calculating the calorie need. The more we burn calories through physical activities like running, jogging, the more our body requires calories. Thermic effect of food is the energy required to digest food. The more the thermic effect, the more calories will be burned.
If we take foods high in calories and are not burned by physical activity, the excess calories are stored and deposited in fat tissues and leads to obesity. Intake of balanced diet with adequate calories is an important step in maintaining weight and preventing health problems.
There are 3500 calories in one pound of fat. Therefore, controlled healthy diet is as important as physical activity in management of weight control.
Even when we are in sleep our body utilizes energy. Because we will be in fasting during whole night, our blood glucose levels in the brain come down. That is why when we wakeup we still feel dizzy and tired. When we eat breakfast, sufficient amounts of glucose reach brain and we work effectively. Researchers proved that students and adults who take breakfast perform well in schools and at job places. Taking breakfast also prevents from becoming obese. People who take breakfast show conscious eating during the day.
