Eating a balanced diet that includes plenty of whole grains, vegetables, and fruits can help you maintain or reduce your weight, be more productive at work, and perform better in sports. But the most important benefit of a nutritious diet is that it can dramatically reduce your risk of getting the most common chronic diseases affecting American men, including heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, and certain forms of cancer.
Reducing your intake of fatty foods is important in preventing heart disease, but eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables also is heart-healthy. Vegetables and fruits are rich in antioxidant vitamins and other nutrients that help protect your body from disease. Doctors agree that the best way to get any other vitamin or mineral is by consuming a variety of foods as part of a balanced, nutritious diet.