How can you possibly manage your daughter's slimming diet, your athletic husband's bodybuilding diet and your father's hypertension all at the same time? The answer: a balanced diet that can meet everybody's needs. And why not let yourself be inspired by the tasty and balanced local diet?

Sticking to your diet while you eat
This is a good way of correcting any bad food habits your family may have acquired! If one or more family members have put on a few kilos too many, the whole family can discover the virtues of eating controlled amounts of a well-balanced diet.

The keys to dieting in a family
Nothing, absolutely nothing, should be ruled out altogether when you are following a weight-loss diet: the only thing that changes is the quantity. So it's easy for one member of the family to lose weight if the whole family has a varied diet, by taking ingredients from all 5 food groups.

Attractively presented, well-cooked, varied dishes, whether based on meat, fish, vegetables, potatoes or other carbohydrates are sure to tempt everybody. And what's more, members of the family who are on a special diet won't feel left out because you're all eating the same thing! 

Draw up a dietary profile with members of your family who are trying to lose weight in order to identify where their problems lie. You might even find that there's no point going on a special diet because sticking to the recommended dietary intakes is often enough to settle any problems with the bathroom scales.

Preventing and treating serious illnesses
There is a direct link between the way you eat and your state of health: to live well, you first need to eat well.

Certain dietary factors play an important role in conditions such as obesity, osteoporosis, diabetes and high cholesterol levels. Excessive or insufficient levels of specific nutrients can also increase the risk of certain types of illnesses. A balanced diet based on good food intake, variety and moderation, therefore, encourages the prevention of certain illnesses.