Whether you want to lose some weight or simply want to eat a little healthier, maintaining a balanced diet is crucial for optimal health and well-being, even when you go out to a restaurant. The following guide explores what you need to know about eating a balanced diet and its benefits.

What a Balanced Diet Looks Like

A balanced diet includes plenty of fruit and vegetables and selecting whole-grain foods like hulled barley, oatmeal, quinoa, wild rice, brown rice, whole-grain crackers, and whole-grain bread. It also relies on protein choices like eggs, shellfish, fish, lean red meats, tofu, seeds, nuts, and legumes. Finally, a balanced diet limits highly processed foods with added salt and sugar and includes plenty of water.

How to Achieve a Balanced Diet

You can achieve a balanced diet by making healthy food choices, eating appropriate food portions, and following a few simple guidelines. For instance, picture a dinner plate, then imagine dividing the plate in half. One side of the plate should be filled with vegetables, and the other half should be further divided into two quarters. 

One-quarter of that side should contain lean protein, like tofu, beans, lean beef, skinless poultry, or fish. You can fill the other quarter with a healthy starch or grain-based side dish, like a slice of whole-grain bread, whole-wheat pasta, or brown rice.

Benefits of Maintaining a Balanced Diet

There are many benefits of achieving a balanced diet for children and adults. For adults, the benefits include achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, gaining a functioning digestive system, supporting healthy breastfeeding and pregnancies, reducing the risk of some cancers, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes, strengthening bones, boosting immunity, supporting muscles, keeping your eyes, skin, and teeth healthy, and living longer.

For children, eating a balanced diet helps the digestive system function, boosts immunity, supports healthy growth, supports brain development, strengthens bones, helps them achieve and maintain a healthy weight, supports the muscles, and keeps their eyes, skin, and teeth healthy.

Maintain a balanced diet even when dining out by choosing The Diner at Sugar Hill in Georgia. This family restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, featuring everything, from specialty omelets to chicken parmigiana. Visit the website to browse the menu, or call the hometown restaurant at (770) 831-0180 to place a carry out order.