What is a balanced diet?

A balanced diet has the right proportions of carbohydrates (including fibre), proteins and fats, together with adequate amounts of vitamins, minerals and water. These can all be obtained from ordinary foods.

A good starting point is to eat five portions of fruit or vegetables each day. This is easy to achieve. For example, you could have an apple in the morning, a banana after lunch, and one or two tablespoons of vegetables at both lunch and dinner.

Fresh fruit and vegetables contain vitamins and fibre that may be missing from convenience foods. Extra carbohydrate is best obtained from starch rather than sugar. Foods such as bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and beans provide a lasting supply of energy and contain other nutrients. High sugar and high fat foods contain a lot of calories without much other food value.

It is usually not necessary to look for sources of fat in the diet. However, there is evidence to suggest that oily fish, nuts and pure seed oils including olive oil may have beneficial effects. The fats in meat, eggs, dairy products and much fried food are probably not essential, especially if you have your own fat supply to burn off. Fatty food may also be one of the things that trigger heartburn. So fat could be on your list of foods to avoid. Grill rather than fry and beware of the fat content of ready meals and other processed food products.

Protein is readily available in meat and fish as well as peas, beans, grains, nuts and seeds. Meat is not essential to your diet but it is rich in protein and iron. Choosing lean meat or eating smaller portions will help reduce your intake of saturated fat. Fish is also a useful alternative that you could consider having at least once per week. Eggs and dairy products are nutrient rich but have the disadvantage that they also contain saturated fat. Low fat dairy products are available from supermarkets.