What are the building blocks of a healthy and nutritious diet?

So your looking to eat healthy? Well one fo the best ways to get started is to get the balance of carbs,(carbohydrates), proteins and fats right first. The reason is, these are the essential foundations of any diet plan and everything from there is just a question of balance and adjusting to suit your likes and dislikes.

With around 4 calories being produced by one gram of protein it is not suprising that we are encouraged to eat plenty of protein rich foods such as eggs and dairy products (which of course also contain fats), red meats fish and steaks.

Moving on to Carbohydrates the story is pretty much the same in terms of calories at around 4 calories per gram. But unlike protein which occurs only naturally (unless added as a supplement) carbs can be found both naturally and also in food that a processed or if you prefer man made.

Examples of natural carbohydrates include obvious ones such as potato's (in their various forms),bread,rice and oatmeal.Then we have processed foods or man made carbohydrates such as cakes, cookies,bagels and candies etc.

I am guessing you have probably worked out by now that I was saving the best (or worst in this case until last) .That's right a single gram of fat creates a massive 225% more energy at 9 calories (that's more than twice the amount of protein and carbohydrate). Is it that simple?

But of course as I am sure you know there is more than one type of fat they are classed as good fats (mono unsaturated fats and poly unsaturated fats) and bad fats (saturated fats) and the less widely know very bad (trans fats or trans fatty acids to give then their full name)

A balance of carbs,protein and fat (ideally mono and poly unsaturated fats with a small proportion of animal fats) will prevent you having problems with being over weight and obese. It is when these food groups get out of balance that problems occur.

If you choose to have a diet which has a high level of fat or indeed a high level of carbohydrate (especially man made carbs) you increase your chances dramatically to having problems with your weight.If you continue this way may end up extremely obese or as doctors use the term morbidly obese.

Since fat has substancially more calories per gram than both protein & carbohydrates, just ensure the bulk of your diet is a balance of the first two food groups with some healthy fats thrown in for good measure.

We will examine the different types of fat individually.

Mono Unsaturated Fatty Acids (Monounsaturated Fats).. Examples of which are seeds,nuts and vegetable oils. They are found in liquid form at room temperature.

Polyunsaturated Fats (Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids):- These are are found mainly in vegetable oils, fish and seafood. They are liquid or soft at room temperature. Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are types of Polyunsaturated fats and are considered essential fatty acids because our bodies cannot make them, thus they must be obtained through the diet. Some times referred to as PUFA's.

Saturated Fats (SUFA's):- These are fats which are found predominantly in animal food sources such as meats, dairy products (those made from milk) such as butter and cheese and in some plants the most well know one being coconut and it's derivatives.

Trans Fats (Trans Fatty Acids) are liquid vegetable oils that have been chemically processed to become solid at room temperature through the addition of hydrogen atoms. These hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils are used in some margarines and fried foods as well as to improve the flavor, texture and shelf-life of processed snack foods like cookies and crackers.

A guide is if it comes from a plant it is usually better for you than if it came from animal. Animal fats are found in butter, pastry and shortening as saturated fat. But fats from plants such as Olive Oil, sun flower oil and some margarines (read the label) are unsaturated fats. Unsaturated fat is better for you but will still make you fat.

If you want to be eating healthy you need to keep a good balance of all 3 main food groups.

Article Source: http://www.articles.ask-me-about.com

When seeking help and diet advice you will enjoy the new free report by Graham Foster "82 weight loss tips to lose 22.5 pounds of ugly fat in only 5 short weeks"