Never Miss These 5 Groups Of Food In Your Daily Diet

Are you aware of the major groups of food? Learning about them will make it easy to plan your diet. Here are the 5 groups of food...

Saturday, February 18, 2017, 11:36 [IST]

To put things in a simply way and understand nutrition better, we can divide the major foods into 5 groups. If you ensure that your daily foods come from all those groups, your diet is said to be healthy.

Missing a food in any group may deprive you of the nutrients that the group offers. For healthy life, eating a variety of healthy foods is necessary.

Also, if your plate has all food groups in the right proportion, you don't need to think too much about losing weight. Here are the groups...

Also Read : What Does Processed Food Mean? Read On!

Fruits

All fruits in all forms (dried or canned) fall in this group. For a healthy life, fruits should be a part of your daily life.

2 cups a day is the recommended daily intake of fruits though it depends more on you age and activity levels. But never miss melons and berries which contain lots of nutrients. Fruits offer vitamins and minerals.

Veggies

All vegetables and their juices fall in this group. Green vegetables are among the best vegetables followed by orange, red and starchy vegetables.

Even peas and beans fall in this group. Eating all varieties is important. Recommended daily intake is around 2-3 cups a day. In fact, filling your plate more with fruits and vegetables and less with grains is good. Vegetables offer vitamins and minerals.

Also Read : Here's The Food Chart For Babies For All The First-time Moms Out There!

Grains

All grains including wheat, rice, oats, quinoa, pasta, museli etc fall in this group. Whole grains are better than refined ones. They are rich in carbs and fibre and are the main source of energy.

The daily recommended intake for women is around 3 cups of cooked grains and for men, it can be 4 cups. Eating more than 3-4 cups a day will surely show up as belly fat. After crossing 50, both men and women can reduce their grain consumption a bit.

Protein

Eggs, fish, meat, seafood, nuts, beans and seeds fall in this group. As proteins are building blocks, you can't ignore them. If you are a non-vegetarian, prefer lean meat. Try to get at least 125 grams of protein per day if you are a woman and around 150 grams if you are a man.

Dairy

Dairy deserves attention due to the calcium it provides. If you are lactose intolerant, get calcium through plant sources. But otherwise, yoghurt and milk are good sources of lots of nutrients. At least, a cup of milk and a cup of yoghurt a day is recommended.

Also Read : Check Out The Differences Between Good Food And Bad Food

Water

Though water isn't a food, it is included here to remind you about the importance of hydrating your system. Without water, none of the above foods can do any good for you.