Expensive food does not always guarantee a healthy food. The more natural and balanced meal we could nourish for our body the more we are mentally and physically fit.

Take a look on how perfect is God’s providence for us in terms of perfect nourishment. Provided below will be helpful tips on a balanced diet:

Minerals

1.Calcium – milk is one good source of it. Drinking beer or other alcoholic drinks makes a person urinate more to remove the alcoholic poisons and get enough calcium have soft bones that are often crooked and break easily.

Milk and other dairy products — such as yogurt, cheese, and cottage cheese — are good sources of calcium. You'll also find this mineral in broccoli and dark green, leafy vegetables. Soy foods and foods fortified with calcium, including some kinds of orange juice and soy milk, are also good sources.

2.Magnesium – a very important mineral that helps the B vitamins protect the nerves in the body. People who drink a lot of beer or alcoholic drinks usually lack magnesium which causes them to shake or even convulsions.

You get magnesium from whole grains and whole-grain breads, nuts and seeds, green leafy vegetables, potatoes, beans, avocados, bananas, milk, and chocolate (yes, chocolate!).

3.Iodine – people who eat ocean fish and seaweeds get enough because iodine from the ocean is in all seafoods. In the Cordillera Mountains where there is no seafoods could substitute it with what they called anwad which concentrates iodine from the soil. Others may also source it from the iodized salt.

Iodine helps the thyroid gland in the neck to produce a very important chemical that controls _meta_bolism. Without this chemical from the thyroid gland, a child will not grow properly and an adult will be very tired of the time. The absence of enough iodine makes thyroid grows bigger and bigger until it is formed as a goiter which causes several types of sickness.

4.Iron – lack of iron in the blood is considered anemic and feel tired most of the time. Iron-rich foods include red meat, pork, fish and shellfish, poultry, lentils, beans and soy foods, green leafy vegetables, and raisins. Some flours, cereals, and grain products are also fortified with iron.

5.Phosphorous – important for good bones and also helps to keep the body working properly. Phosphorus is found in most foods, but the best sources are dairy foods, meat, and fish.

6.Sodium – an important mineral but eating too much of it can be dangerous for the heart. Sodium are usually taken from the salt that is why people who have heart disease are told not to eat salt.

A person may be wealthy and eat plenty of food but if the food lacks vitamins, minerals or proteins, one will me malnourished. If a person’s food is all of one or two kind, he may become malnourished.

People who eat organic foods may have everything that they need. However, if all of a person’s vegetables and fruits come from chemical farm, one may lack minerals and vitamins and become malnourished.

7.Protein – people should eat several different types of protein to be sure that they get some of each of the needed amino acids which is essential in building man’s body. One excellent source of it is seeds especially beans and peas. Eggs and milk have much protein also.

8. Zinc - is important for normal growth, strong immunity, and wound healing. You'll find zinc in red meat, poultry, oysters and other seafood, nuts, dried beans, soy foods, milk and other dairy products, whole grains, and fortified breakfast cereals.

VITAMINS

1. Vitamin A – found in the leaves of malunggay,low vegetables. People who lacks vitamin A have a dry skin and children often go blind. Too much of vitamin, however, is also dangerous because it can damage the blood and cause headaches. Good sources of vitamin A are milk, eggs, liver, fortified cereals, darkly colored orange or green vegetables (such as carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin), and orange fruits such as cantaloupe, apricots, peaches, papayas, and mangos.

2. Vitamin D – can be obtained from some foods but the body can also make it if it receives the proper amount of sunshine. You can also get vitamin D from egg yolks, fish oils, and fortified foods like milk.

2.Vitamin E – is very important for both men and women to help them produce children. It also helps to prevent damage to the brain and other parts of the body. Grains are the usual source. Vitamin E is also found in many foods, such as vegetable oils, nuts, and green leafy vegetables. Avocados, wheat germ, and whole grains are also good sources.

3.Vitamin K – helps prevent bleeds. Without it a person would bruise and could lose much blood from simple wounds. Potassium is found in broccoli, potatoes (with skins), green leafy vegetables, citrus fruits, bananas, dried fruits, and legumes such as peas and lima beans.

Note: All of the abovementioned vitamins can be stored in the body fat, however, so it is necessary for people to eat them everyday. Vitamins B and C however, can be stored so should be taken everyday.

4.Vitamin B – are found in rice bran and other similar parts of grain. It is really very foolish for many people to remove all of the bran and its vitamins from the rice and feed it to the pigs. Many sicknesses are caused by lack of it. B vitamins are as follows:

Vitamin B12 is found naturally in fish, red meat, poultry, milk, cheese, and eggs. It's also added to some breakfast cereals.

Vitamin B6 which includes potatoes, bananas, beans, seeds, nuts, red meat, poultry, fish, eggs, spinach, and fortified cereals. People get thiamin from many different foods, including fortified breads, cereals, and pasta; meat and fish; dried beans, soy foods, and peas; and whole grains like wheat germ.

Vitamin B3 can be found in red meat, poultry, fish, fortified hot and cold cereals, and peanuts.

Vitamin B2 can be sourced from meat, eggs, legumes (like peas and lentils), nuts, dairy products, green leafy vegetables, broccoli, asparagus, and fortified cereals.

Vitamin B9 are found in Liver, dried beans and other legumes, green leafy vegetables, asparagus, and orange juice are good sources of this vitamin. So are fortified bread, rice, and cereals.

5.Vitamin C – protects the body from many kinds of damage and prevents many diseases especially those in the lungs. It helps the body to use iron to make blood. You'll find high levels of vitamin C in red berries, kiwi, red and green bell peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, spinach, and juices made from guava, grapefruit, and orange.

BALANCED NUTRITION

1.Carbohydrates are the most common source of energy which can obtained from rice, corn, potatoes, wheat, sweet potatoes, cassava.

2.Fats also provide energy which are more concentrated than carbohydrates and can be stored in the body to be used later if needed. That is sometimes an advantage but fats do not give any other nutritional benefit, just energy. That is a disadvantage.

There are two kinds of fats: saturated fat (bad cholesterol) and unsaturated fats (good cholesterol). The former comes from meat that we eat which sticks to the inside of the blood vessels when eating too much of it resulting the blood vessels thicker and harder which causes the hole in the middle becomes smaller so that the heart must work hard to push the blood through which indeed causes high blood pressures and might eventually cause a heart attack.

The latter which is the unsaturated fat is found in coconut oil, olive oil, fish fat and some seeds which do not tick to the inside of the blood vessels. In fact, it often helps to remove the saturated fat from inside the blood vessels to make them softer and more open.

3.Sugar – also provides energy but like the fats, it does not provide any vitamins, mineral or any other nutrient. It is sometimes good because it provides energy very quickly but some people had a hard time _meta_bolizing it so the sugar stays in the blood instead of being used by the body. These people are called diabetic which is very dangerous.

_meta_bolism takes place in the cells of the body. It enables the muscle cells to get heat and strength from sugars. It also enables other cells to keep other parts of the body working.

4.Energy is not enough of course. Proteins are also needed which are composed of different combination of 22 amino acids which are critical to life, and have many functions in _meta_bolism.

Proverbs 25:16 If you find honey, eat only what you need, lest you become glutted with it and vomit it up.