Most nutrition experts today would recommend① a balanced diet containing elements of all foods， largely because of our need for sufficient② nutrition.
It’s known to all that overweight causes many serious diseases， such as high blood pressure， heart attack， etc. Thus， some people choose to go vegetarian③. In fact， it’s not necessary to do so. If you have ever been without meat or other animal foods for some days， let alone for some months or some years， you will have noticed that you tend to get physically rather weak. This shows that you fail to get enough protein—the body-building element in food. Proteins are built up from about twenty amino acids， which are found richer in animal protein than in vegetable protein. Besides， vitamins and many other substances are also very important for health. And the most common deficiencies④ in our diets today are those of vitamins.
How can we get the nutrition we need from diet？ The answer is variety in food. A well-balanced diet having sufficient amounts of meat， milk， eggs， fruit， vegetables， cereals， fish or fowl usually provides adequate minimum daily requirements of all the nutrients.
① recommendvt. 推荐，介绍； 建议，劝告
② sufficientadj. 足够的，充分的
③ vegetariann. 素食者；食草动物 adj. 素食主义者的；吃素的；素菜的
④ deficiencyn. 不足，缺乏， 缺陷，缺点
平衡饮食
大多数的营养专家如今都会推荐包含所有食物营养素的平衡饮食。这在很大程度上是因为我们需要足够的营养。
众所周知，体重超重(过于肥胖)会引起许多严重的疾病，如高血压、心脏病等。因此一些人选择了吃素。事实上，没有必要这样做。如果你几天不吃肉或其它动物食品，更不用说几个月或几年了，你便会注意到身体在虚弱。这表明你没能摄取到足够的蛋白质——食物中的一种健体强身的营养素。蛋白质由大约二十种氨基酸组成，而这些氨基酸在动物蛋白中的含量要大大高于植物蛋白。此外，维生素以及许多其它的营养素对身体的健康也是非常重要的。我们今天的饮食中通常最为缺乏的就是维生素。
我们怎样才能从饮食中获得所需的营养呢？答案就是食物要多样化。一份搭配极好的平衡饮食应当包括有足够数量的肉、奶、蛋、水果、蔬菜、谷物、鱼以及禽肉等。这样的饮食在通常情况下都能提供身体每日所必须的足够的营养。