In This Article
Sreemathy Venkatraman, Clinical Dietitian & Wellness Nutritionist, Trustwell Hospitals, Founder, Mitha Aahara – Eat to Live, shares her expertise on the importance of dietary diversity.
A healthy, nutritious diet helps to keep one fit. But most of the time, we forget to include the most essential nutrients required for our bodies. September is observed as National Nutrition Month, and to generate awareness, Sreemathy Venkatraman, Clinical Dietitian & Wellness Nutritionist, Trustwell Hospitals, Founder, Mitha Aahara – Eat to Live, shares her expertise on the importance of dietary diversity.
Healthy eating in India is often reduced to a list of foods to avoid: less sugar, less oil, no fried food, fewer carbohydrates. While moderation matters, one of the most overlooked aspects of good nutrition is dietary diversity—eating a wide variety of foods across and within food groups.
One of the common mistakes I see is eating the same “healthy” foods every day. Oats for breakfast, the same two vegetables for lunch, roti and dal for dinner may appear balanced, but repetition can limit the range of nutrients we receive. No single grain, vegetable, fruit, or protein
Another mistake is removing entire food groups without a medical reason. Rice is labelled unhealthy, fruits are avoided because they contain sugar, dairy or gluten is eliminated after social-media advice, and traditional foods are replaced by expensive “health foods”. Restriction does not automatically make a diet healthier. Unless clinically indicated, unnecessary exclusions may actually reduce nutritional adequacy and food diversity.
Our traditional Indian food culture already gives us an extraordinary opportunity for diversity. Instead of relying only on wheat and white rice, we can rotate grains and millets such as ragi, jowar, bajra and different regional rice varieties. Similarly, dals need not mean the same toor dal every day. Moong, masoor, urad, chana, rajma, lobia and other pulses can contribute different nutrients and flavours.
The same principle applies to vegetables and fruits. “Eat your greens” is useful advice, but eat your colours is even better. Green leafy vegetables, orange and yellow vegetables, tomatoes, gourds, beans, cruciferous vegetables, roots and seasonal fruits provide different combinations of fibre, vitamins, minerals and plant bio-actives.
Protein diversity is equally important. Depending on individual dietary preferences, meals can include different pulses, legumes, nuts, seeds, dairy foods, eggs, fish or lean meats rather than depending heavily on one source.
Even the gut benefits from variety. A diverse plant-based diet provides different fibres and substrates for the gut microbiome. Therefore, gut health should not be reduced to one probiotic drink, seed, supplement or so-called superfood.
The goal of healthy eating is not dietary perfection. It is adequacy, balance and variety over time. Instead of asking, “What food should I stop eating?”, perhaps the more useful question is: “How many different nourishing foods am I including across my week?”
A healthy plate should not only be balanced — it should also be diverse.
