Family Meal Planning Ideas

Family Meal Planning Ideas

Healthy eating plays a vital role in allowing the family to lead a good healthy lifestyle. The key to healthy eating is a balanced diet which provides the right mixture of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and the right amount of minerals and vitamins. In this article, we talk about Family Meal Planning Ideas.

This ideal diet will have enough calories to fulfill your daily energy requirements but at the same time an excess in calorie intake will result in adding on weight. Right quantity of fibre also helps to keep your digestive system on track.

Family Meal Planning Ideas

What is a healthy balanced diet?

When you eat a wide variety of foods from each of the five major food groups, then you will be able to meet all the nutritional demands of the body. Eating foods like brown bread, cereals, grains, fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, eggs, beans, nuts, seeds etc., are a part of the different food groups that your body needs.

Normally carbohydrates should provide for about 50 to 55% of your energy needs, proteins should be about 15 % and fats should be around 30% or less. However, many people consume too much fat and eat most of their carbohydrates in the form of refined flour and sugar which has no nutritional value.

Why should fibre be increased in your diet?

Healthy eating need not mean eating less. High fibre foods like wholemeal bread, brown rice, fresh fruits and vegetables help you in filling your stomach without adding calories to your diet. They are also a good source of vitamins and minerals. A high intake of dietary fibre prevents constipation and also helps regulate the absorption of glucose and fatty acids from your digestive system.

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Why should fats be reduced in your diet?

Cutting down on fats reduces the risk of heart diseases. Try to choose unsaturated fats in your diet. Most of the time people consume saturated fats found in red meat, milk, cheese, butter and other processed foods.

Saturated fats are not good for your body. They increase the blood cholesterol level, which in turn increases the risk of fatty deposits clogging up your arteries.

Unsaturated fats are mostly found in oily fish, chicken, nuts etc. They do not raise your blood cholesterol level and will protect your heart.

Why do you need to have proper meals a day?

It is important to have a minimum of three meals a day, rather than having lots of snacks and one big meal a day. Most people skip breakfast which is wrong. Our body metabolism works more efficiently on a steady supply of foods.

How to plan a healthy balanced diet?

Simply reducing red meat, oil, sugary foods, processed foods and canned foods will help your family stay fit.

Some easy tips to remember are listed below:

  • Buy fresh fruits, vegetables, skimmed milk, lean cut meats etc.
  • Bake, boil, grill, stir-fry or steam your foods.
  • Enjoy your fresh vegetable salads with lemon juice.
  • Cook your soups slowly and do not over boil the vegetables.
  • Add only a little salt to your food.
  • To preserve the vitamins, eat or cook fruits and vegetables with their skins.
  • Use plain yoghurt instead of cream in your cooking.
  • Do not use processed soups or canned tins in your diet as they have lots of fats, salts and preservatives.
  • Make healthy food choices instead of readymade convenient food.
  • Choose unrefined starchy foods such as whole grain foods like brown rice and potatoes.
  • Drink at least 8 to 9 glasses of water to hydrate your body sufficiently.

What does a healthy diet do?

A healthy diet promotes good health and reduces the risk of contracting any diet-related diseases. It contains the widest possible variety of natural foods and a good balance of all different nutrition groups.

Many diseases are the fallout of a deficiency in essential nutrition or over-consumption of foods or even consumption of wrong foods.

Modern research has indicated that too much fat is one of the reasons for the development of cancer. Lack of consumption of calcium-rich foods has led to osteoporosis.

If you have a regular good and healthy diet, then an occasional unhealthy meal is not going to hurt you. Remember your diet determines your health and the health of your family.

These are some of the important things to be kept in mind while making a healthy eating plan for your family.

Hope you enjoyed this article Family Meal Planning Ideas. Please read our article  Top 6 lifestyle habits for a healthy family.

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