New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Reference Terms
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Healthy diet

A healthy diet contains a balance of food groups and all the nutrients necessary to promote good health. Human nutrition is enormously complex and a healthy diet may vary widely according to an individual's genetic makeup, environment, and health. Healthy eating is the practice of making choices about what and/or how much one eats with the intention of improving or maintaining good health. Typically, this means following recommendations for a healthy diet. The concept of healthy eating is primarily a problem in rich countries where the lifestyle includes a modicum of outdoor physical activities, high but not always high-quality food consumption, and a trend towards industrially-produced foods instead of locally-sourced, locally-prepared meals.

Related Stories
 


Health & Medicine News

March 14, 2026

Researchers have identified two gut bacteria that can produce serotonin, a key chemical that regulates bowel movements. In experiments with mice lacking serotonin, the microbes boosted serotonin levels, increased nerve cells in the colon, and ...
Tiny plastic particles may be quietly threatening brain health. New research suggests microplastics—now widely found in food, water, and even household dust—could trigger inflammation and damage ...
Researchers studying over 8,400 colonoscopies discovered that having both adenomas and serrated polyps in the bowel can raise the risk of serious precancerous changes by up to five times. These two polyp types may represent separate cancer pathways ...
A severe case of COVID-19 or influenza could increase the risk of lung cancer later on, according to new research. Scientists discovered that serious viral infections can alter immune cells in the lungs, leaving behind chronic inflammation that may ...
In medieval Denmark, people could pay for more prestigious graves closer to the church — a sign of wealth and status. But when researchers examined hundreds of skeletons, they discovered something unexpected: even people with stigmatized diseases ...
Scientists have discovered that a rare “mirror-image” version of the amino acid cysteine can dramatically slow the growth of certain cancers while leaving healthy cells largely untouched. Unlike ...
Researchers have discovered a surprising change in how cells produce energy in people with depression. Brain and blood cells in young adults with major depressive disorder produced more energy molecules at rest but had trouble increasing energy ...
A new study suggests Alzheimer’s disease may be detectable through subtle shape changes in proteins found in the blood. Researchers discovered that structural differences in three blood proteins closely track the progression of the disease. By ...
A newly developed antibiotic called EVG7 could offer a powerful new way to stop Clostridioides difficile, a dangerous gut bacterium that often returns after treatment. In mouse studies, researchers ...
Coenzyme A, a molecule derived from vitamin B5, is vital for metabolism throughout the body. Scientists discovered that most of it resides inside mitochondria, yet how it reached these cellular ...
Scientists have developed a promising new approach to treating Alzheimer’s disease by turning ordinary brain cells into powerful plaque-clearing machines. Instead of requiring frequent antibody infusions like current therapies, the experimental ...
A European clinical trial found that the drug sulthiame significantly reduced breathing interruptions in people with moderate to severe sleep apnea. Patients taking higher doses experienced up to 47% fewer pauses in breathing and improved oxygen ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:56 pm ET