A balanced diet: Essential to a healthy lifestyle

Enjoying a balanced diet is an effective way to maintain a healthy lifestyle, but you should note that diet and lifestyle should not be assumed to be responsible for causing your constipation. The following tips may be useful and interesting for ensuring you have a balanced diet:

If you do introduce changes to your diet, they should be made gradually

Sudden changes can upset your body's digestive process.

Protein: Meat, fish and tofu are all sources of protein. Be sure to get enough protein, but do not go overboard. It is a misconception that the more protein in a diet, the better. Too much protein can be harmful, and may slow your digestion. Too little, on the other hand, can lead to fatigue or lack of resistance to infection.

	Fats: Red meat, eggs, nuts, milk and milk products are the main sources of saturated fats in most people's diets - try to keep them to a minimum. You can reduce your intake of saturated fats by substituting fish, poultry, beans and peas for some of the red meat in your diet. These foods are much lower in saturated fat and cholesterol, which has been associated with heart disease.

	Carbohydrates: Foods like rice, potatoes, pasta and noodles give our bodies energy and are good sources of carbohydrates. White sugar is also a carbohydrate, but should be kept to a minimum. If you crave something sweet, try satisfying your taste buds with a piece of fruit. Fruit contains natural sugar but also contributes fibre and other nutrients to your diet.

	Vitamins and minerals: Do not think that you can eat an unbalanced diet and ‘catch up’ on your vitamins and minerals by taking just a multivitamin/ multimineral supplement. Eating healthy food that meets all your nutritional needs naturally is the most important aspect of a balanced diet. However, under certain conditions the need for vitamins and minerals can not be sufficiently covered by the daily food intake. In such cases it is worthwhile - or even necessary - to consider the use of extra vitamins and minerals.