We all know that eating plays an important role in health. We should eat well and eat healthily. Then what a healthy diet is? Here are four tips for having a healthy diet. 

First of all, a healthy diet should be balanced. It must include sugar, fat, vitamins, minerals as well as dietary fibers. For example, calcium is essential in the diet of children and the elderly. Milk, yoghurt and cheese are good sources of calcium. Moreover, beans and nuts provide much calcium. It is a wrong idea that people do not need to eat dairy products after adolescence. The complement of calcium is a lifelong task. Fish is also a good component of a healthy diet. It can supply a large amount of protein and minerals.

Secondly, people should distinguish beneficial fat from harmful fat. Many people think that fat would lead to obesity. Therefore, they do not eat fish and seafood at all. But actually, not all fat is harmful. For instance, fish and seafood contain much Ω3 fatty acid, which can improve the immune system and promote the blood circulation. In consequence, they do goods to the balance of cholesterol and fat. But we do not need to eat them frequently. Eating such food twice a week is enough. Another mistake about fat is that people like to eat margarine with bread. Unfortunately, margarine and animal fat would raise the risks of cardiovascular diseases because they contain a large amount of cholesterol. In contrast, plant oil not only provides beneficial fat, but also supplies vitamin E to people. So we had better use more plant oil instead of animal oil in cooking.

Thirdly, people should notice that even food that helps with weight loss may make people gain weight. It is wrong to entirely trust in diet food. When we go to choose diet food, we should read the ingredient lists carefully and compare them seriously. Besides, people are not allowed to eat much diet food. The amount of any food should be under control. Or the weight would go up easily. In addition, low-calorie food is a wise choice. Eating vegetable juice and jellies after meals is much better than having cheese and disserts.

Fourthly, everyone must realize the danger of salt. Salt is important in the balance of minerals in the human body. Almost all people would use some salt in cooking. But we all neglect such a fact that salt has already existed in many foods. It is widely used as antiseptics in processing canned food. As we know, food containing antiseptics, especially nitrous acid and its compounds, would easily lead to cancer. Therefore, we had better eat natural or low-salt food. Too excessive salt would raise the blood pressure and even cause cardiovascular diseases.