Educational conversation: “Healthy eating pyramid”

The concept of rational nutrition

First of all, the essence of the term should be identified.
A balanced diet is one that ensures the normal functioning of people. This type of providing the body with food can even have a preventive effect. The main thing is to take into account individual characteristics. These include: gender, age, work characteristics, physical activity. Do not ignore climatic conditions. The climate greatly affects your well-being. For this reason, it is important to select a menu that will not cause discomfort. This issue needs to be studied thoroughly.
You should become familiar with the power functions in detail. This will help you organize it correctly and avoid unforeseen consequences.

The principle of physical activity

One of the principles of the healthy eating pyramid is the principle of physical activity. In the diagram he is represented as a man climbing the stairs. And the essence of this principle is that you can achieve a beautiful body only by combining a healthy diet with physical activity. Nutritionists advise devoting at least an hour a day to the latter.

And in order to replenish the calories lost during physical activity, you need to know how many calories you need to consume. So, for physically active people you will need 2800 kcal, and, for example, for pensioners or people leading a sedentary lifestyle - only 1600 kcal. Based on this, you need to build your diet, using all the principles of the pyramid.

If we take into account athletes who train intensively, they should base their diet on the basis of the following daily calorie values:

• 2500-2800 kcal – for women;
• 2800-4300 kcal – for men.

Thus, the daily portioning here will be somewhat different. So, for example, for women leading an active lifestyle, grains will need not six servings a day, but ten.

The healthy eating pyramid has undergone many changes: some adjustments have been made, both qualitative and quantitative, and additions have been made. The principles were also revised. Relatively recently, the principle of physical activity has even come to the forefront, pushing aside the principle of diversity.

Power functions

The most important functions include:

• filling the body with energy. A balanced diet allows you to balance incoming and outgoing energy. Thanks to this, a person always feels good and does not complain of fatigue;
• saturating the body with useful substances (proteins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals). Over time, the cellular structures of the body are destroyed. It is necessary to form new ones. This becomes possible thanks to the incoming nutrients. They are the ones who contribute to the formation of new cellular connections;
• improvement of the immune system. People's immunity directly depends on the quality of food consumed. Therefore, it is recommended to eat exclusively healthy foods.

What else is important to know?

The most important thing to know when using a food pyramid is the purpose of its use. As a rule, there can be three of them:

• maintaining existing weight;
• weight gain;
• weight loss

Based on your goal, you need to adjust your diet to suit you. The following formula will help with this: weight x 30 = required number of kcal. The resulting value is the number of calories that need to be consumed to maintain body weight unchanged.

To gain body weight, you need to add 500 kcal to the obtained value. If the goal is to lose weight , you need to gradually reduce the final figure. So, if it turns out to be 1800 kcal per day, then you gradually need to achieve a value of 1700, 1600, and so on.

Basics of rational nutrition

Adherents of a healthy lifestyle need to know everything about the basics of balanced nutrition. This will solve a lot of questions. Which foods should you eat and which should you avoid? How often should you eat? What size portions are required? What to cook for dinner? Understanding the basics of nutrition and following the main principles of eating habits guarantee a fulfilling life. So what are the basic principles we are talking about?

Moderation

Everyone needs to learn how to maintain a balance between the energy value of consumed products and the energy consumed in the process of life. This is the only way to feel comfortable and maintain a normal weight. You should not assume that a large serving size will provide the body with the necessary calories. It is not always so. Small portions of foods that are too high in calories can cause excess energy. This excess is often short-lived. This is also harmful to health.

When choosing food, you should also take into account individual characteristics. Plus, men should consume more calories per day. Women need less. The energy value of children's dishes should also be quite high. After all, children lead an active lifestyle.

Diversity

A varied diet has a positive effect on the body. By consuming various high-quality products, people saturate themselves with 70 different substances. The daily diet should contain fats, carbohydrates (including fiber), proteins, vitamins, and minerals. But the ratio of these components should vary significantly. The diet of adults with average physical activity should include:

• 90 grams of proteins;
• 100 grams of fat;
• 400 grams of carbohydrates.

A lack of nutrients can worsen your health and cause malaise. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the necessary chemical compounds are supplied in sufficient quantities daily.

Compliance with the regime

Rational eating habits imply that people should adhere to a certain diet. Otherwise, you can significantly worsen your well-being. After all, without a systematic intake of food, the body will experience stress after stress. Due to irregular nutrition, extra pounds may soon appear.

Experts recommend eating food 5 times a day in small portions. It is important to avoid uncontrolled snacking. They greatly increase your total daily calorie intake. Ideally, there will be three main meals a day and about two planned snacks. Between meals you need to maintain a time interval of approximately three to three and a half hours.

Rules for rational nutrition

When creating a menu, you need to focus on the “food pyramid” developed by nutritionists. It indicates exactly how to form eating habits and which specific products to give special preference to. When developing proper nutrition for the day, week or month, you need to be guided by the following:

• your daily diet should include grains. They contain healthy fiber, vitamins;
• per day you need to eat at least 450 grams of fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs, legumes;
• calcium can be obtained from milk;
• It will be useful to include fish, lean meat, eggs in the menu;
• It is better to choose olive oil;
• consume fast carbohydrates and sugars as little as possible. They can cause negative changes in the body;
• daily salt intake – maximum 6 grams;
• It is important that the food is natural.

Types of food pyramids

In addition to the well-known pyramid, there are other varieties of it:

1. Vegetarian. Another name is the pyramid of plant origin, i.e. All meat and dairy products, as well as eggs and fish, are excluded from it. The basis of nutrition here is based on cereals, legumes, vegetables and fruits. Dairy products, as well as meat products, are replaced in the pyramid with soy products.
2. Mediterranean. The food here is based on grains and vegetables and fruits. Olive oil is also included in the price. Fish and seafood take second place. It is recommended to consume meat in this pyramid no more than once a week.
3. Children's pyramid. Its principle is the same as that of a regular pyramid. The difference from an adult pyramid lies in the number and width of segments. Thus, the first place is occupied by dairy products - this is the basis of nutrition for children under three years of age. Next are fruits and vegetables, which in terms of segment thickness are not inferior to dairy products. Next in line is meat. The fish stands out in a separate segment. Cereals, which are best served in the form of porridges, should certainly form the basis of baby food. As in the adult menu, the narrowest strip represents oils and fats. You can simply season porridge or salad with oil. The eggs are also separated into a separate small segment. Sweets also have their own segment, for children which can be presented in the form of honey and dried fruits. Therefore, they can be consumed in small quantities daily.
4. Asian. The priority here is vegetables, rice, soy products and green tea.
5. Pyramid for pregnant women. You can build your own pyramid during pregnancy, when the need for vitamins, protein and minerals increases. It is advisable to adjust your diet with the advice of a supervising doctor.

Peculiarities

The basics of rational nutrition do not imply uniform rules. Each case is individual. For this reason, you need to study your body. This will allow you to understand what microelements and other compounds he is currently lacking. This awareness will help you competently create a daily menu. This approach will protect against unpleasant consequences.

Age

There are three age groups. For each of them, experts have developed special nutritional recommendations:

• Children need to consume much more calories per day than adults. This is due to the fact that the child’s body is developing. This requires exclusively useful substances. Along with this, the high physical activity of children should be taken into account. To restore the expended energy, they need to eat quite heavily. The average daily energy value for children is 2,000 calories (with moderate activity);
• Adults should consume about 3,000 calories during the day with moderate activity;
• In older people, metabolic processes slow down significantly, and physical activity also decreases. For this reason, people of advanced age should reduce the calorie content of meals to 2,000 kcal per day.

Gender

If you want to replace old eating habits with more correct ones, you need to focus on gender differences. Men need to eat meals with higher energy value and high protein content. This is due to the structural features of the male body and working conditions. The life activity of men involves daily physical activity, often very strenuous. It is for this reason that they need to restore expended energy. To do this, you need to eat the most high-calorie foods.

Women should eat less. Their body is designed a little differently. As for physical activity, it practically does not require large amounts of energy. 2,200 kcal per day with a predominance of fats is quite enough. Such a quantity will allow you to restore both strength and the reproductive system.

Climatic

It is important to remember one basic rule here: the lower the air temperature, the more calories people need to consume. That is, eat more high-calorie foods. What is the explanation for this? With the onset of cold weather, metabolism worsens. Additional energy is required to restore the body. High temperatures are the most familiar and comfortable for people. Therefore, the calorie content of dishes in favorable climatic conditions should not be increased.

Target

If you have a goal to lose weight, then you should reduce your daily calorie intake. However, everything needs moderation. There shouldn't be a big calorie deficit.

When exercising regularly, try to increase the calorie content of your food so that your body does not experience stress. This way, productivity will not drop, and you will not feel weak.

Should you give up your evening meal?

Many people wonder what dinner should be like with proper nutrition? Or is it not recommended to have dinner at all? You should not skip meals in the evening. Otherwise, there may be discomfort in the abdominal area, even fatigue. However, there is no need to overeat before bed either. It’s ideal if you can eat something light for dinner. One option is a vegetable salad dressed with olive oil. You can eat it with a small piece of fish. A healthy dinner is the key to good health.

Is the pyramid important for losing weight?

The food pyramid can also be successfully used for weight loss purposes. So, according to its principles, a one-day menu for someone losing weight may look like this.

Every day can be different in its own way. So, we exchange meat for fish, oatmeal for wheat sprouts, and an apple for a pear. The main thing is to maintain the permissible amount of calories.

The importance of the pyramid for weight loss lies in its principles; the main thing is to be able to use them correctly. So,

• Portioning can be used for the purpose of evenly eating at different times and controlling calories;
• eliminating harmful foods also has a beneficial effect on those who want to lose weight;
• the increased amount of fiber will help the intestines work like clockwork, which is also important for burning fat;
• The principle of physical activity speaks for itself - its combination with dietary control can lead to the desired result.

Popular recipes

When creating a menu, most people are faced with the following questions: “What is healthy to eat for dinner?”, “What should dinner be like with proper nutrition?”, “Can I have meat for dinner?” and the like. What's the secret to the perfect evening meal?

Below are popular dinner recipes with proper nutrition.

Boiled breast with Greek salad.

For the salad you will need:

• cucumber;
• tomato;
• bell pepper;
• lemon juice;
• olives;
• Chees Feta;
• vegetable oil.

Preparation: cut ingredients, mix. Season the salad with oil and add lemon juice. Serve with boiled chicken breast.

Buckwheat cutlets with pumpkin.

Required:

• buckwheat (200 grams);
• one and a half glasses of water;
• 150 grams of pumpkin;
• greenery;
• breadcrumbs.

Preparation:

• boil buckwheat;
• grind the pumpkin (to a puree);
• Form cutlets from buckwheat porridge and pumpkin puree and bake in the oven (20 minutes).

How to create the right diet

To help you figure out how to create your diet correctly, you can use the example of a daily diet, which contains the corresponding table

Adult diet: table

Using this example, you can create many diet options so that your weekly meal schedule is varied and healthy.

Expert opinion

According to the classical definition, “rational nutrition is a diet that ensures growth, normal development and vital activity of a person, helps improve his health and prevent diseases.” Accordingly, eating irrationally means both having a systematic lack of some nutrients and having too much of them. What is overshoot and undershoot? This is most conveniently explained in terms of the units of heat in which the nutritional value of foods is measured: calories. When they are consumed in food and drink more or less than the norm, a person becomes fat or loses weight. If a person does not have such goals, then he must eat rationally, that is, without excess calories and nutrients, and without their deficiency. Because both obesity and weight loss too often lead to poor health and illness.

So, rationality means the exact correspondence of the provision to the needs. And they are individual for everyone. How can you find out exactly your unique indicators (what and how much do you need)? By contacting a weight loss specialist. In general, I think they should be called differently: specialists in its normalization, since they can help their patients not only lose weight, but also gain the correct number of kilograms. It all depends on each specific case.

General information

A proper diet is the basis of a healthy lifestyle for every person. But, unfortunately, in the modern world, people’s diet is far from ideal. obesity is growing every year . At the same time, not only adults, but also young children are overweight The importance of nutrition for human health is enormous due to its impact on health. Many serious diseases, in particular heart attacks , strokes , atherosclerosis , etc., are associated precisely with an incorrect approach to the formation of a diet. This article will discuss how to properly structure a person’s diet, and how the so-called food pyramid can help with this.

Definition by hand

You can determine how much food a particular person needs to eat at one time using the palm of your hand:

• straightened palm - amount of protein food;
• a brush clenched into a fist - the amount of vegetables or other side dish - a source of fiber;
• palm bent into a handful - the amount of carbohydrates;
• Thumb length – amount of fat.

The food pyramid not only helps to organize nutrition correctly so as not to gain excess weight, but also helps to discipline a person.

Having understood the principles underlying such a scheme, even a person far from dietetics can create an individual plan for daily meals. Maintaining proper nutrition is absolutely safe for health, but only with gradual adjustments to your usual lifestyle.