Balanced Eating Patterns, The Key To Healthy Life To Prevent Many Diseases

Illustration of a balanced diet (Unsplash)

JAKARTA - A healthy diet is the main basis in maintaining overall body health. A balanced and nutritious diet helps the body get the nutrients needed to function optimally.

In addition, a healthy diet can also prevent various chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease.

Internal medicine specialist from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia-National Central General Hospital Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo, dr. Sukamto Koesnoe, emphasized the importance of paying attention to the quality of the food consumed rather than focusing solely on the number of calories.

"Many people are still focused on the number of calories, even though what is more important is the quality of the food consumed," said Dr. dr. Sukamto Koesnoe, SpPD, K-AI, Consultant Allergy and Clinical Immunology Department of Internal Medicine FKUI-RSCM as quoted by ANTARA.

According to him, maintaining a balanced diet is the main key to maintaining the health of the body. The body needs the right nutritional composition so that it can work optimally.

"In general, in a day a person needs carbohydrates of around 45-65 percent of the total calories consumed, protein 10-35 percent, and fat 20-35 percent," he explained.

To meet these nutritional needs, Dr. Sukamto recommends choosing complex carbohydrates such as red rice or whole wheat. In addition, it is important to eat protein from a combination of animal and vegetable sources, prioritize unsaturated fats from olive oil, avocado, and fish, and avoid trans fats from processed foods.

"The need for healthy adult protein is around 0.8 to 1 gram per kilogram of body weight per day. However, this figure can change according to certain conditions, such as when sick or for athletes," he added.

Apart from paying attention to the type of food, Dr. Sukamto also suggested setting regular meal times. It is recommended that three main meals are 4-6 hours apart, but this pattern still needs to be adjusted to the medical condition of each individual.

"This recommendation must be adjusted to certain medical conditions. For example, kidney disorders patients need to limit protein, diabetics must pay attention to the burden of food glycemics, and hypertension patients need to limit salt consumption," he said.

Furthermore, he emphasized that a healthy diet does not mean excessive restrictions, but maintains balance and consistency.

"There is no suitable diet for everyone. Each individual has different needs depending on health conditions, physical activity, and other factors," concluded Dr. Sukamto.