Balanced Diet: 10 Simple Rules!

There are many myths and opinions about nutrition. For many, a healthy, balanced diet seems to be something very complicated. We show you with which rules you can make it easy for yourself.

Balanced diet: 10 simple rules

• Conscious eating: Eating is more than just taking in food and satisfying hunger. Nutrition is also pleasure and we should celebrate this consciously. A healthy diet begins in the mind and if you prepare your food carefully and chew it consciously, you will automatically find the right diet for you. If we read the newspaper on the side or eat on the road, our body sends out satiety signals much later and we eat far too much.
• Eating a lot of food: Many diets fail because we are tired of eating cabbage soup or shakes every day and lack variety. In the long term, the constraints and prohibitions of certain foods are also like a burden on our shoulders. Those who eat consciously are allowed to eat chocolate or chips. The quantity makes the poison. In Germany we have a large variety of regional fruit and vegetables and should always rely on a colourful, varied mixture.
• Fruit and vegetables as a basis: Who doesn’t know the rule – five portions of fruit and vegetables a day? Vegetables in particular are super low in calories and provide us with many valuable micronutrients. Homemade smoothies are also a great choice, eating lots of fruit and vegetables and making a healthy diet easy.
• Whole grain products: The German Society for Nutrition recommends eating 30 grams of fibre a day. Complex carbohydrates like potatoes or cereals contain a lot of fibre. Whole grain products are to be preferred because they provide many additional minerals and vitamins.

• Good fats: Fat does not have a good reputation in Germany. Fat-reduced food is available on every supermarket shelf. Yet fat is not bad per se. We eat too many saturated fatty acids and too few unsaturated, especially omega-3 fatty acids. A balanced diet consists of 60 to 80 grams of fat per day, preferably vegetable oils, nuts and fish.
• Sugar and salt with caution: Living sugar-free is a noble intention, but difficult to implement, as almost all foods contain sugar in some form or another. Since our body does not depend on sugar, we can do without it without hesitation. You should not consume more than 30 to 40 grams of sugar per day, otherwise you will quickly run out of calories and get ravenous appetite.
• Drink enough: We often confuse hunger with thirst and reach for a chocolate bar, although a glass of water would have been much better for us. Go for water, tea and diluted fruit spritzers. For many, healthy eating fails because of soft drinks and fruit juices, because these drinks contain so many calories without you noticing.
• Animal products in moderation: While eating meat was once considered a luxury, today it is about producing meat cheaply and in large quantities. The factory farming industry sends its regards. Focus on quality rather than quantity and eat lean meat (e.g. turkey or chicken).
• Good sources of protein: A protein-rich diet is very popular, not only with bodybuilders. Because protein fulfils important functions for our body and also satisfies our appetite. Vegetable protein sources such as quinoa, amaranth or lentils are underestimated, but complement each other very well with animal protein sources such as fish or meat. A balanced diet should always be a varied diet.
• Sufficient exercise: Exercise and sports are definitely part of a balanced, healthy diet. After all, if you don’t exercise all day long, you will still feel flabby and tired. You don’t have to draw up a training plan for women and go to the gym every day, but cycling to work or taking a walk after work, for example, doesn’t hurt.