Food is one of the pillars of our health. Through food we get the energy and nutrients we need, so it is vital that we make our diet a priority. Unfortunately, today, we forget its importance due to the short time available to us, misinformation and the influence of social changes, among other factors.
Any diet aims to maintain or improve our health. For example, through the prevention of chronic diseases or to improve our sports performance. Whether it is to improve our body composition, control the symptoms of some intolerances or make up for vitamin deficiencies, diets should always seek to improve our health and, in addition, the enjoyment of food. The most advisable thing is to receive the advice of a professional dietitian-nutritionist who develops dietary guidelines appropriate to our specific characteristics.
Diet definition: what exactly is a diet?
A diet is the amount of food that a living being provides its body. The diet, therefore, defines our nutritional behavior, that is, it is a set of nutrients that the body absorbs after the habitual consumption of food.
Diet is a habit and a way of life. It is true that, most of the time, this term is used to refer to special diets to lose weight or to combat certain diseases, although the reality is that these cases represent modifications in the diet and not a diet itself.
On the other hand, it is considered that a diet beneficial to the health of the human being, that is, a balanced and balanced diet, must contain a sufficient amount of calories and essential nutrients for the correct growth and development of the organism in each of the stages. of the life. A healthy diet must therefore provide carbohydrates, proteins and fats (in addition to vitamins and minerals) in the appropriate proportions to reduce the risk of suffering from chronic diseases.
When it comes to feeding ourselves, a series of criteria must be taken into account, such as the ones that we show you below:
- Choose a varied diet that includes foods from all groups (as long as your religion, your culture and your values allow it): fruits, vegetables, legumes, meat, fish, eggs…
- Maintaining an adequate balance in food consumption, that is, excessive intake of a certain food must be prevented from displacing the consumption of another equally necessary one.
- Eat in moderation. This allows us to maintain the appropriate weight and avoid the appearance of diseases.
- Eat to enjoy. Currently, human beings do not eat only to survive, but also enjoy doing so. For this reason, our diet, always incorporating foods that are healthy and nutritious, must be configured in such a way that we feel like eating it. A diet that we do not like can end up becoming a real martyrdom.
The types of diet that we can follow to improve health
When choosing or preparing a diet, the first step we must take is to ask ourselves its objective, since according to this we can differentiate different types of diets:
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Hypocaloric diets
The most popular and common are low-calorie diets, those that aim to lose weight through a low-calorie diet. It is about giving the body a smaller amount of energy (calories) than it consumes throughout the day. In this way, a caloric restriction is created and the body has no choice but to resort to the accumulated fat to sustain itself. This type of diet does not exclude any food, although it does limit and reduce its consumption.
Also, expand the intake of vegetables and fruits. It is necessary to take into account not only the energy contribution but also the nutritional quality of the foods that are part of it. For example, a diet in which you only ate a hamburger with potatoes per day would be hypocaloric, but isn’t it the same as eating 3 meals based on vegetables, fruits and legumes?
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Hypercaloric diets
Women who want to gain weight are less common, but it can also be an objective to be achieved through a healthy diet but with an energy intake greater than the person’s necessary requirements. It is important that this type of diet is under the supervision of a nutrition professional, so that the person consumes the right foods and does not think that they can eat any type of food in order to gain weight (with this, the only thing that is achieved is considerably worsen the state of health).
The hypercaloric diet must be rich in nutrients and contain high levels of calories such as those found in olive oil, nuts and certain meats and fish. Furthermore, contrary to popular belief, this diet should be combined with physical activity. Preferably you should opt for muscle-building exercises and combine them with aerobic exercises
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Basal or balanced diet
They are those that do not aim to modify our weight, but to maintain it in a healthy and balanced way. To this diet belongs, for example, the popular Mediterranean diet. It is known as the Mediterranean diet because it originates from the nutritional habits of southern Europe, which include countries such as Greece, Spain or Italy. It is a diet that promotes the varied consumption of food, giving priority to fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, oily fish and lean meats. One of its fundamental elements is olive oil, a great source of unsaturated fats. This diet suggests cooking on the grill, boiling or consuming raw and fresh products.
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Protein diets
Whether they are to reduce the level of proteins (hypoproteic), indicated in case of suffering from kidney diseases or to increase it (hypoproteic), which are used in case of problems such as anorexia, malnutrition, etc.
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Ketogenic diets
There are several modalities of this diet, which consists of a high consumption of fats, a moderate contribution of proteins and a minimum of carbohydrates. They are usually used in case of diseases such as epilepsy or obesity. One of the best known is the Atkins diet.
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Gluten free diet
Celiacs are people who suffer from gluten intolerance, one of the components present in many cereals; This diet replaces these foods with other alternatives. Similar techniques are used in case of other food allergies.
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FODMAP diet
Its objective is to alleviate the digestive symptoms of some diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome. It is a diet low in fermentable carbohydrates that is carried out for a certain time and always under the supervision of a nutritionist to avoid possible deficiencies.
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Vegetarian diet
Vegetarian diets are those in which fish and meat are eliminated. This diet, therefore, is based mainly on legumes, fruits, vegetables, seeds, grains and soybeans. There are several types of vegetarian diets, depending on whether they include dairy, eggs, or both.
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Vegan diet
The vegan diet is similar to the vegetarian one, with the difference that it is stricter and more restrictive. Not only foods of animal origin are eliminated from it, but also those derived from them. That is, vegan people do not consume meat, but neither dairy, eggs or honey, for example. Most of the time, this type of diet is not put into practice for nutritional or health reasons, but many people follow it for ethical or environmental reasons.