Feeling balanced is an important part of health . If someone is not feeling balanced, it can cause anxiety, sleep disturbances, crying spells, nervousness etc. Of course balance is not only about food. It includes emotional balance. But food does contribute a lot. So what is a balanced diet? For each person it can be different because balance depends on what is out of balance in each individual. Also, balance varies upon a person’s nutritional needs, emotional condition, food sensitivities and so on. Even weather affects balance. The best way to achieve balance is to do the following:
- Do some deep breathing. Deep breathing (of fresh air) helps to balance the nervous system and remove stress. It also brings more oxygen to the body.
- Avoid foods that are known to be triggers: for example, if you are sensitive to gluten, try to avoid it so you don’t throw your body out of balance. Gluten can cause mood swings in sensitive people. If you find that dairy leaves you bloated or with other symptoms, avoid dairy so your digestion works properly. Good digestion is very important for balance. If you are in pain from excessive gas you certainly cannot feel happy or balanced.
- If you have eaten too much sweet foods, you need to balance it out with more salty foods or more protein foods. For example, if you ate a high carb lunch, for dinner you may want to choose a protein, some vegetables or a green salad and avoid carbs. If you have not been eating many vegetables, you need to balance out your diet by including more healthy vegetables and avoiding filling up on cakes or rice or other things.
- If you want a really balanced diet, you need to make sure you choose healthy foods and a variety at your meals. For example, if breakfast is some fruit, plain yogurt, possibly a slice of healthy sourdough bread, then for lunch you should have a salad or steamed greens, some sort of protein such as eggs, possibly avocado and a small quantity of carbs like a pasta or a baked sweet potato. Dinner could be lighter: possibly baked fish, some vegetables and some basmati rice. In between meals you can snack on some whole fruits, some nuts etc.
- Over eating will leave you feeling unbalanced so make sure to eat but do not eat to the point of feeling really full. If the stomach has too much food, it cannot contract properly to digest and indigestion will leave you feeling nervous, unbalanced, bloated etc.