A balanced diet

A balanced diet contains the different nutrients in the correct amounts to keep us healthy. Certain foods are not necessarily 'bad' for us, but eating too much of them could be.

Nutrients

There are seven different nutrients:

• carbohydrates
• proteins
• fats
• minerals
• vitamins
• fibre
• water

Some foods are particularly rich in certain nutrients. The table shows why we need each nutrient, and some good sources of each.

Nutrient	Use in the body	Good sources
Carbohydrate	To provide energy	Cereals, bread, pasta and potatoes
Protein	For growth and repair	Fish, meat, eggs and dairy products
Fat	To provide energy. Also to store energy in the body and insulate it against the cold	Butter, oil and nuts
Minerals	Needed in small amounts to maintain health	Salt, milk (for calcium) and liver (for iron)
Vitamins	Needed in small amounts to maintain health	Dairy foods, fruit, vegetables
Fibre	To provide roughage to help to keep the food moving through the gut	Vegetables, bran
Water	Needed for cells and body fluids	Fruit juice, milk, water