Balanced Diet
What is a balanced diet?
Is there anything like a perfect balanced diet?
Is there a formula for a balance diet?
No, I don’t think so.
Balance, what does balance mean? It is an even distribution on either side to maintain the scales from dipping on one side. There can be a formula when weight as a measure of unit is used. But when it comes to food and food for individual person, one can never have a formula because our body system keeps changing on daily basis. This is because of various factors affecting each organ of ours. Simple explanation, there are days when we feel extremely hungry or not hungry at all, even when all the so-called known factors remain the same. Then there are emotional quotients which impact our systems, the impact of climate or temperature has different effect on each individual, which leads to our metabolic actions. Hence, we cannot have a formula to state a diet…balanced diet.
When there are changes in our system, like if we get injured, or skipped a meal or slept less or more, or had more of fluids (carbonated or alcohol or juices), more of cardio activity etc, our body requirements for particular macro and micro nutrients changes, leading to change in our ‘Balanced Diet’ for that particular time. So how would we measure this diet to make it a balance diet? Can we?
In my opinion, a dietician or a nutritionist who prescribes a diet to follow for a month or weeks, will not be effective. Initially our body may / will show some change and that is because our body tries to adapt to this change of food intake, but this is a temporary phenomenon. It’s like when we start drinking less water or when we give long breaks between our meals, we tend to gain more weight. Why is that? This is because our body thinks that we are entering into starvation mode, hence it starts to store what is consumed or when it is consumed, leading to slowing of our digestion process, in other words, slows down our metabolic activity, leading to increase in our body mass and weight. Reverse happens when we consume water or food at regular intervals, our body / organs considers this as regular supply, hence works (their individual assigned duty/job) efficiently and gets ready for next intake, leading to one, shedding their body weight and mass. This is one of the reasons why dieticians state that we should have six small meals a day or eat every two hours, etc. But what should be consumed at what time or what is my next action after my consumption, factor which should be considered. For example, if a dietician has asked you to eat chicken in the afternoon, which is a good source of proteins, but post consuming of this chicken, I had to head out in the summer sun, my body is not going to provide me with the essential boost which is required when we are exposed to summer sun. Again, the other important factor which is missed out is how a particular food item is prepared or cooked. Just mere stating of increase consumption of Chicken to help intake of Proteins, is not right, because how is this chicken cooked and with what other food item, makes or changes the food or nutrition value and then again how will that be broken during our digestion, varies from person to person. Hence, again a balanced diet for one on a particular day at a particular time, will not be similar (definitely not same) to others.
In my conclusion, I would state that this whole phenomenon of Balanced Diet is not correct, and one should educate themselves of different foods, their nutritional values, listen to their body and then act for that particular time of food intake. Caution do not let greed overtake rational thinking when deciding what to eat.
