Balanced diet

Regular sport isn’t all it takes to stay fit and healthy. Diet is the cornerstone of a healthy lifestyle. A balanced diet is key. Our expert Lisa-Maria Müllner from RINGANA Research & Development explains the most important points.

What is a “balanced diet”?

A healthy balanced diet gives us all of the vital nutrients we need such as carbohydrates, fibre, protein, fats, minerals, vitamins and a wide range of natural active substances. Ideally, the bulk of our diet should consist of plant-based, seasonal foods and regional organic products.

Lisa-Maria’s tip: COMPLETE d-eat is a balanced meal that gives the body all the essential nutrients it needs and also contains few calories. The perfect solution for lasting weight reduction and for ensuring that we still get a balanced diet, even if we don’t have much time to prepare food.

What Do’s & Don’ts should I bear in mind
with regard to a balanced diet?

#1 Eat enough fruit and veg

There’s a lot of sense behind the old proverb “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”. Make sure you eat enough fruit and veg and ideally it should be fresh and raw. The rule of thumb is three portions of vegetables and two portions of fruit per day. The more you vary what you eat, the greater the variety of natural active substances. What’s great: fruit and veg are available in every shape and colour.

#2 Cereals, plant seeds and nuts

There are so many different cereals – just try them all out! The best choice here is wholegrain varieties. Wholegrain products help to cover our fibre requirements (approx. 30 g per day). Fibre is important for the metabolism and for a healthy digestive system. Reduce your consumption of heavily processed, refined cereal products (e.g. white bread) as much as possible. Have you ever tried quinoa, amaranth, millet, barley, oats or rye? And you can also add some variety to your menu with linseed, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and nuts.

Lisa-Maria’s tip: Lots of us don’t manage to get enough fibre. On average, we consume 10 g less fibre per day than we should. As a supplement, I’d recommend FRESH pack cleansing as a rich source of fibre (10 g fibre per sachet) with a balanced complex of vitamins and minerals.

#3 Pulses

Pulses should also make a regular appearance on our plate. Peas, beans and lentils are important sources of protein. Apart from that, they also contain many other nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and secondary plant substances.

Lisa-Maria’s tip: Try our SPORT protein. It combines a variety of protein from plant sources, ensuring ideal bioavailability for a long-lasting supply of protein. It contains all the important amino acids and is perfect not only for athletes but also as a supplement for vegans, vegetarians and older people.

#4 Use the good fats

Choose high-quality plant oils such as olive, rapeseed, linseed or nut oil. They provide the necessary energy as well as important unsaturated fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins. Go easy on the animal fats, and also keep an eye out for “hidden fats”. These are often concealed in processed foods such as baked goods, sweets, sausages, fast food and ready meals.

#5 Cut down on sugar and salt

Sugar and sweetened foods and drinks that contain sugar are not recommended. Sugar should only be used sparingly. When making sweet dishes, the amount of sugar in the recipe can often be halved or fruit can be used instead to sweeten. You should also avoid foods that contain a lot of salt. The best way to pep up your cooking is with herbs and spices – that creates more variety and you need less salt to make your food tasty. Lemon zest, cinnamon or ginger are also great food seasonings.

#6 Don’t eat if you’re not hungry

It’s important to monitor when you feel hungry. Try to resist sudden hunger cravings for sweet things. We often only get such cravings when we’re bored. Food gives us something to do to get through that boredom. Over the long term, eating because we’re bored can become a habit – we train ourselves to do it, so to speak. To get out of this habit, you need mindfulness and patience. Instead of just grabbing sugary products, think about your food choices. Take adequate time for your meals and fight the cravings.

Lisa-Maria’s tip: Try to avoid snacking and stick to fixed mealtimes. However, if you are suddenly seized by hunger cravings, go for apples, nuts, carrots or cucumber instead of sweets. If you like savoury food, try this out: season some boiled chick peas, add a dash of oil, and bake in the oven until crispy.

#7 Eat awarely

We often don’t even notice what we’re eating, and we unconsciously eat far more than necessary – while watching TV or reading, for example, or when our attention is diverted in some other way. It is therefore very important to eat awarely! Because if we eat more slowly and awarely, it boosts our enjoyment of our food and we can better sense when we are full.

How should food be prepared?

When cooking, it’s not only about the right ingredients – it’s also important to prepare them in a way that keeps the goodness in. This means: cut down on cooking fats, don’t overheat food, also avoid baking and deep-frying, and eat lots of raw food. In addition, food should only be cooked for as long as necessary, not longer – that’s the best way of retaining the active substances.

What should I bear in mind with regard to fluid intake?

Adequate fluid intake is important. Drink at least 1½ litres of fluid a day – ideally water, or unsweetened fruit or herbal tea. That also helps us to withstand hunger. Drinks that are sweetened with sugar, alcoholic drinks, or “light/zero” drinks are not recommended. Sweetened foods and drinks often make us feel hungry again, as soon as we’ve consumed them.