What Is a Balanced Diet? Healthy Plate Basics

You do not need expensive foods or a strict plan to eat well. A healthy diet is mostly about variety, the right balance between food groups, and keeping a few things like salt and sugar in check. This guide uses advice from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UK's NHS.

What does a healthy diet include?

WHO describes four simple ideas behind a healthy diet:

• Adequacy: getting enough of the nutrients your body needs.
• Balance: eating about as much energy as you use, from the right mix of foods.
• Moderation: limiting foods that can harm health in large amounts.
• Diversity: eating many different kinds of healthy food.

In practice, this means lots of fruit, vegetables, pulses like daal and chickpeas, wholegrains, and lean sources of protein, with fewer highly processed foods.

How should I fill my plate?

The NHS Eatwell Guide gives an easy picture of balance across a day:

• Fruit and vegetables: just over a third of what you eat.
• Starchy foods: just over a third. Choose wholegrain or higher-fibre options, such as brown rice, wholewheat pasta or potatoes with skins.
• Protein foods: a smaller share. Include beans, pulses, fish, eggs and lean meat.
• Dairy: a smaller share, choosing lower-fat and lower-sugar options.
• Oils: only small amounts.

How much fruit and vegetables do I need?

WHO recommends at least 400 grams of fruit and vegetables a day for adults and children aged 10 and over. Younger children need less: at least 350 grams at ages 6 to 9, and at least 250 grams at ages 2 to 5. Fresh, frozen or canned all count, as long as they have no added sugar or lots of salt. Fruit juice is high in sugar, so limit it.

What about fibre?

WHO advises adults to get at least 25 grams of fibre a day. Wholegrains, pulses, vegetables and fruit are the best sources.

How much salt, sugar and fat is too much?

• Salt: less than 5 grams a day for adults. Add less salt while cooking and at the table, and cut down on salty snacks and processed meats.
• Sugar: free sugars should be less than 10% of your daily energy. For someone eating 2000 calories a day, that is about 50 grams, or 12 teaspoons. Going below 5% gives extra benefit.
• Fats: total fat should be no more than 30% of daily energy. Saturated fat should be under 10%, and trans fat under 1%.

How can I cook healthier at home?

• Steam or boil food more often instead of frying.
• Swap less healthy fats for small amounts of plant oils, nuts or fish.
• Avoid baked and packaged foods that contain industrial trans fats.
• Choose lean meat and reduced-fat dairy.
• Drink enough fluids. The NHS suggests 6 to 8 cups or glasses of fluid a day.

What should babies and young children eat?

WHO recommends feeding babies only breast milk for the first 6 months, then adding safe, varied foods while breastfeeding continues to age 2 or beyond. Foods for babies and young children should have no added salt or sugar.

When to see a doctor

A healthy diet supports good health, but it does not replace medical care. See a doctor if:

• You keep losing weight without changing your diet or activity
• You lose weight and also have other symptoms
• You feel tired, breathless or look pale for no clear reason, which can be a sign of anaemia
• You have a long-term condition and want advice on how to change your diet safely