Define food variety and describe why it is essential for a well-balanced, nutritious diet

Answer 1

A major characteristic of a nutritious diet is variety: the foods chosen differ from one day to the next. A diet may have all the virtues just described and still lack variety if a person eats the same foods day after day. People should select foods from each of the food groups daily and vary their choices within each food group from day to day, for a couple of reasons. First, different foods within the same group contain different arrays of nutrients. Among the fruits, for example, strawberries are especially rich in vitamin C while apricots are rich in vitamin A. Variety improves nutrient adequacy. Second, no food is guaranteed entirely free of substances that, in excess, could be harmful. The strawberries might contain trace amounts of one contaminant, the apricots another. By alternating fruit choices, a person will ingest very little of either contaminant.