A balanced diet

There’s not much difference in the dietary recommendation for preventing diabetes than if you already have type 2 diabetes. What is recommended is a healthy balanced diet – but what does this really mean?

No one food group can give you all the energy and nutrients your body needs to stay healthy. Eating a balanced diet means that you eat foods from all the main food groups but less of some foods and more of others. The Eatwell Guide was developed by Public Health England and gives a visual representation of how different foods and drinks, and in what proportion, contribute to a healthy balanced diet.

You don’t need to achieve this balance with every meal but it’s important to try and achieve it over a day or week.

We will explore each of these food groups in the next topic.