Balancing our food
Have you a favourite food? Would you like to eat it for every meal? Some people would like to eat chips at every meal; others would enjoy a can of baked beans. If someone were to eat just their favourite food at every mealtime they would eventually start to feel ill. They would become unhealthy. Why is this?

Every food contains a range of substances that we need for good health. These substances are called nutrients. We need nutrients to give us energy and to provide materials so that we can grow and our body can repair itself when it gets a cut or a bruise. If you ate just your favourite food some of these nutrients would be missing from your diet.

If your favourite food lacked the nutrients for energy you would eventually become tired. You don't need energy just to run about and play games. You need it every moment. Energy is needed to make your heart beat and to make your lungs breathe in and out. Even when you are sitting down your body is using energy, so if your food lacks energy-rich nutrients you will soon feel tired.

If your favourite food lacked nutrients for growth your body would stay small. In some parts of the world, many children do not get enough nutrients for growth and they stay small. If you met one of these children you might think that because they were small they were about five when in fact they were perhaps eight years old. It is important to help children all round the world to have enough food ? not just to keep them alive but to help them grow properly.

Some of the nutrients that are used for growth also help the body repair itself. If you cut your skin, it may bleed a little and then form a scab. Underneath the scab, the body uses the nutrients to make new flesh and skin. When the scab falls off that part of your body may be completely healed. If you did not get enough of the body-building nutrients in your food it would take the body a long time to heal its wounds.

When you look at a plate of food you see that there are not equal amounts of each food. There is usually a smaller amount of meat and a larger amount of other foods. For example, two slices of roast lamb may be accompanied by three or four potatoes and two large spoonfuls of vegetables. This meal is called a traditional meal because it has been made for centuries. Over that time the meal has been found to keep people healthy. It does this because it has the correct balance of nutrients. If you look at meals from different parts of the world, you find a similar pattern in the amount of meat compared to the amounts of other foods on the plate. In a curry there is a small amount of meat mixed with a vegetable sauce that is poured over a large amount of rice. Spaghetti has a small amount of meat in a tomato sauce poured over a larger amount of pasta. This pattern has not occurred by accident: it has occurred because people in different parts of the world have found ways to balance their meals to give them the nutrients that they need. Different meats, vegetables and cereals may be used but the meals all have one thing in common. They keep your body healthier than would just a plate of chips or a can of beans.

Are chips and beans not healthy?
Yes, they are, if they are eaten with other foods. Chips provide large amounts of energy but only small amounts of nutrients for growth and repair of the body. Beans provide energy and body building materials but still lack some nutrients for full health. You must eat other foods with chips and beans to make a balanced meal.

Why do many meals have large amounts of potatoes or rice and small amounts of meat?
The main nutrient in potatoes and rice provides energy and the main nutrients in meat help the body to grow and repair itself. The body needs more nutrients to provide it with energy than it does to provide it with growth and repair so a meal has more potatoes or rice than meat.

Are there other energy foods besides potatoes and rice?
Yes. Bread and pasta are two foods which provide energy. Fats and sugars also provide energy.

Can fats and sugars be eaten in large amounts like potatoes and rice?
No. The energy in fats is not quickly used by the body but is stored in the body as body fat. This increases the weight of the body. An overweight body is not a healthy body because the heart has to work harder to pump blood to all the parts that need it. Sugar is very high in energy. If the energy in sugar is not used up it is also stored as
fat so eating too much sugar can also make a person overweight. Too much sugar in the diet can also damage the teeth.

Do you need to eat the same amount of food at each mealtime?
No. The body can remain healthy if you have a small breakfast of cereals, milk, toast and a drink followed by a slightly larger lunch. This could be a sandwich, and two pieces of fruit, a piece of cheese and a drink. The evening meal should be larger still ? perhaps a plate of hot food such as meat, vegetables and potato or rice, a pudding and a drink.

The reason for the difference is that after each meal the food is digested. In the evening a large meal can be digested completely while you are asleep. At this time you are not using up much energy so in the morning you have plenty left from the previous night. However you need to top up the amount of energy ready for the day and a small breakfast is suitable. By lunchtime you will have used up more energy so the meal should be larger than breakfast and by evening your body will need more energy to keep it going through the night and prepare you for the following day. Each meal should also have food to give you nutrients for growth and repair of the body.

Why do you need a drink at every meal?
About two thirds of your body is made of water. You need to keep the same amount of water in your body but your body is always losing some. You lose water when you go to the toilet but you also lose it at other times. You lose it when you sweat and you lose some when you breathe out. Just breathe out on a cold can of drink to see the water from your breath settle on its sides. You must drink to replace the water you have lost.

Why are some people allergic to some foods?
The foods contain substances which make the person ill. The person may develop a rash, start to sneeze, have eyes that keep watering, have pains in the body and have headaches.

What are the foods to which people can be allergic?
The main foods which cause an allergy to develop are: fish, shellfish, eggs, peanuts, nuts, chocolate, milk, cereals and citrus fruits. The colourings and flavourings in processed foods such as sweets can also cause an allergy.