General Diet Information for Good Health

Currently heart disease is the biggest cause of death in the USA and UK, with about half of adults overweight, and an increasing proportion being classed as obese. Increased weight causes diabetes, high blood pressure, with increase chance of stroke. Also one of the most common forms of cancer amongst non-smokers is bowel cancer, and this is thought to be almost entirely as a result of bad diet. A good healthy diet is therefore the preventive medicine anyone can take to increase his or her long term health as well as short term well being.

Recommended proportions of food groups

As a general guide, it is suggested that an adults daily food intake consists of approximately the following proportions of food groups:

50% Carbohydrates
30% Fats
20% Proteins

However, this is only a very rough guide. People trying to build up their strength through an intensive body building programme will require more proteins, and many long distance runners swear by consuming large amounts of carbohydrates before a big race (usually in the form of pasta).

World Health Organisation advice

The key to a sensible diet is really watching what you eat. World Health Organisation research concluded that on average people who actually consume slightly less calories each day than the amount considered to be the daily requirement for an adult live longer. As a general rule women should not consume more than 1900 calories a day, and men should limit themselves to about 2500.

Obviously increased levels of activity will adjust these figures somewhat, but it has to be remembered that calorie counting is just a guide for those that are serious about losing weight, not really for people just interesting in maintaining a healthy body.

Fasting is still a common practice in some groups today, which in affect acts as a quick detox for the body. Many of the foods we eat contain toxins, which are not good for us. Our body does a very good job at removing these toxins, but we can help ourselves by eating more healthily.

“Detox diets” however are really just a fad, they are just another commercial diet designed to part you with your cash. As mentioned before, our bodies are extremely well equipped to remove toxins from the foods we eat.

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