What Makes a Poor Diet? Simple Ways to Make Your Everyday Meals Healthier
When we hear the words poor diet, we might imagine someone who eats fast food every day, drinks sugary soft drinks and rarely touches a vegetable. But a poor diet isn't always that obvious.
You might cook most of your meals at home and still eat too few vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. You might consume more salt, added sugar or saturated fat than you realise. Or your meals might simply lack variety, fibre or sufficient protein.
A healthy diet isn't about eating perfectly as there is a fine line between perfect healthy eating and orthorexia. And it certainly isn't about never eating pizza, burgers, chocolate or ice cream again if you like those. It is about what you eat most of the time.
More than half of European adults now carry excess weight
Recent figures give us another reason to think about the quality of our diets.
New Eurostat data published in September 2026 show that 16.3% of EU adults were living with obesity in 2025 (BMI over 30), while another 35.4% were classified as pre-obese (overweight- BMI between 25-30). Together, that means 51.7%—more than half of the EU adult population—were carrying excess weight.
There is also a considerable difference between men and women. Among men, 17.4% were obese and 41.9% pre-obese, compared with 15.3% and 29.3% respectively among women. Malta had the highest obesity rate in the EU at 26.6%, followed by Latvia at 24.6%, Finland at 23.2%, Estonia at 22%. Italy had the lowest at 7.0%.
This isn't only a European issue. Globally, WHO estimates that in 2022 43% of adults were overweight and 16% were living with obesity. Adult obesity has more than doubled since 1990.
In the US, in 2023, 40.3% of adults aged 20+ lived with obesity and 72.4% live with overweight (including obesity).
In the UK, in 2024, 30% of adults aged 16 and over were living with obesity, and 66% were either overweight or living with obesity.
In 2024, globally 35 million children under the age of 5 were overweight. And globally, in 2022, over 390 million children and adolescents aged 5–19 years were overweight, including 160 million who were living with obesity. (source: WHO)
You can explore statistics for individual countries through the World Obesity Federation's Global Obesity Observatory.
Carrying excess body weight can affect health both now and over time. In the short term, it may contribute to lower energy levels, breathlessness, joint discomfort, poorer sleep, poorer mental health and difficulty being physically active. Over the years, excess body fat—particularly around the abdomen—can increase the risk of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, fatty liver disease, depression and certain cancers. The good news is that even modest, sustainable weight loss, alongside healthier eating and regular movement, can improve many important markers of health.
Body weight is not simply the result of good or bad food choices. WHO recognises obesity as a chronic, relapsing disease influenced by complex interactions between genetics, neurobiology, eating behaviours, access to healthy food, our food environment and many other factors.
BMI, as we know, also doesn't tell us everything about an individual's health.
Nevertheless, our everyday food choices are one important part of the picture—and one over which we can have some influence.
So, what actually constitutes a poor diet?
I like to think about this from two directions. A poor diet can provide us with too much of certain things, but it can also provide us with too little of what our body needs.
For example, a certain dietary pattern may regularly provide too much:
salt
free and added sugars
saturated fat
highly processed, energy-dense foods
At the same time, it may provide too little:
vegetables
fruits and berries
beans and lentils
whole grains
nuts and seeds
fibre
vitamins and minerals
variety
WHO describes the foundations of a healthy diet through four simple principles: adequacy, balance, moderation and diversity. It recommends building our diets predominantly around minimally processed foods, including whole grains, vegetables, fruits, pulses, nuts and seeds, while limiting foods high in free sugars, sodium and unhealthy fats.
For people over 10 years of age, WHO recommends at least 400 g of fruit and vegetables and at least 25 g of naturally occurring dietary fibre per day.
So instead of asking only:
“What unhealthy foods should I stop eating?”
I encourage you to also ask:
“What nutritious foods am I not eating enough of?”
That small change in thinking can make healthy eating feel much less restrictive.
Don't aim for a perfect diet—improve the meals you already eat
One of the most practical ways to improve your diet is not to completely change what you eat. Instead, look at a meal you already enjoy and ask:
What could I change, swap or add to make this meal more nutritious?
Take a burger, for example.
You don't necessarily need to stop ever eating burgers.
Instead eat them rarely and choose a wholegrain bun if possible. Add lettuce, tomato, onion and other vegetables. Choose a bean burger, fish burger or good-quality meat patty. Swap deep-fried chips for oven-roasted potatoes or sweet potatoes. Add a salad. Use a yoghurt-, tomato- or herb-based sauce instead of a sauce containing lots of sugar or saturated fat. And have water or sparkling water rather than a sugary soft drink, like Coca Cola, Sprite, Fanta. It is still a burger meal. But nutritionally, it can be quite different. And it might mean, depending where you live, what burger place you visit, that you need to make that burger at home to have a more nutritious version of it.
Healthier meal hacks you can use at home
Here are some other examples and what you can try.
If you usually eat... | Try... | Why? |
White toast with butter and jam | Wholegrain rye bread with cottage cheese, egg or hummus + tomato/cucumber | More fibre, protein and micronutrients |
Sweetened breakfast cereal | Oats with natural yoghurt/kefir, berries, nuts and seeds | More fibre, protein and healthy fats; no added sugar |
Flavoured fruit yoghurt | Plain yoghurt or kefir + fresh/frozen berries + seeds | No added sugar and more whole foods |
White-bread ham sandwich | Wholegrain bread + chicken, egg, fish or hummus + plenty of vegetables | More fibre and vegetables; no processed meat |
Beef burger + fries | Wholegrain bun + bean/lean-meat burger + vegetables + oven-baked potatoes | More fibre and plants; potentially less saturated fat |
Pepperoni pizza | Vegetable pizza with chicken/tuna + side salad | More vegetables and less processed meat |
Pasta with creamy sauce | Wholegrain pasta + tomato/vegetable sauce + lentils, beans or chicken | More fibre, plants and protein |
White rice + meat | Brown rice, barley or buckwheat + meat/fish/tofu + plenty of vegetables | More fibre and plant diversity |
Crisps | Nuts, vegetables with hummus or plain popcorn | More fibre and nutrients |
Biscuits with afternoon coffee | Fruit + nuts or natural yoghurt + berries. Drink your coffee before 12pm to minimise distruptions to sleep. | More protein, fibre and micronutrients |
Fruit juice | Whole fruit + water | More fibre and intact food structure |
Sugary soft drinks | Water or sparkling water with lemon, lime, mint or berries or a low-sugar kombucha mixed with sparkling water | Much less free sugar |
Shop-bought creamy dressing | Extra virgin olive oil + lemon/vinegar + garlic + herbs | More unsaturated fat and simpler ingredients |
Ice cream regularly | Natural Greek yoghurt + berries + nuts/seeds + a little dark chocolate | More protein, fibre and nutrients |
These are just ideas, not rules. What matters is which side of the table resembles your diet most of the time.
Sometimes the healthiest question is also: “What can I add to my diet?”
Having scrambled eggs for breakfast? Add tomatoes, spinach or mushrooms and a slice of wholegrain rye bread.
Having pasta for dinner? Add broccoli, courgette, peppers or mushrooms and a source of protein (fish, chicken, lentils, beans, tofu).
Having soup for lunch? Add beans or lentils and have wholegrain bread alongside it.
Having pizza? Add half a plate large colourful salad.
Having yoghurt? Add berries, walnuts and seeds.
Making a sandwich? See how many different vegetables you can fit inside it.
This approach naturally increases the nutrient density and diversity of your diet.
Use the plate rule to make meals easier
You don't need to weigh your food or calculate every calorie to build a balanced meal.
One of the simplest guidelines I use with my clients is the plate rule (of which majority people have also heard of):
½ of your plate: vegetables
¼ of your plate: protein
¼ of your plate: fibre-rich carbohydrates
+ a source of healthy fat
Vegetables include for example spinach, peppers, cucumbers, ruccola, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, courgette, pumpkin, mushrooms etc. Raw, steamed, stir-fried, roasted.
Protein might come from fish, eggs, chicken, natural yoghurt, cottage cheese, tofu, tempeh, beans or lentils.
Fibre-rich carbohydrates could include potatoes with their skin, buckwheat, barley, oats, brown rice, quinoa or other whole grains.
Healthy fats can come from extra virgin olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocado and oily fish.
It doesn't need to look exactly like this at every meal. Think of it as a visual guide rather than another food rule.
Think about the quality of your carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are often unnecessarily demonised.
There is a considerable nutritional difference between steel-cut and rolled oats and a sugary breakfast cereal, or between lentils and a sweet pastry.
Whenever possible, choose carbohydrate foods that are closer to their original form and naturally contain fibre.
Think:
whole grains instead of refined grains
whole fruit instead of juice
potatoes instead of chips
oats instead of sugary cereal
beans and lentils more often
In this article I cover in more detail carbohydrates, why body needs them, what types of carbohydrate rich foods should we focus on and which ones should we consume rarely if desired.
If you would like to understand more about carbohydrates, glucose and how the composition of your meals affects blood sugar, you can read my this earlier article.
Look at the quality of the fats you eat too
We don't need to fear fat.
Fat is an essential nutrient. The type of fat we eat matters. Try to get more of your dietary fats from foods such as: extra virgin olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocado and oily fish.
At the same time, be mindful of how frequently you eat foods high in saturated fat and highly processed foods that combine large amounts of fat, refined carbohydrates, salt and/or sugar.
Again, this doesn't mean you should never eat butter, cheese or a croissant.
It is the overall pattern that matters.
Watch the foods that don't make us feel as though we're eating much
Drinks are a good example.
A bottle of soft drink, sweetened iced tea, energy drink or large glass of juice can contain a substantial amount of sugar without providing the fibre like for example found in whole fruit.
WHO recommends keeping free sugars below 10% of daily energy intake and notes that fruit juice—even without added sugar—contains significant amounts of free sugars.
For everyday hydration, make water your main drink. If plain water feels boring, try sparkling water with lemon, lime, cucumber, mint, frozen berries or fresh herbs. Reduce or avoid store-bought flavoured waters.
Salt can be similarly hidden. Much of the salt people consume doesn't necessarily come from the salt shaker but from bread, cheese, processed meats, ready meals, sauces, stock cubes and salty snacks. WHO recommends adults consume less than 5 g of salt per day.
In this article you can learn more about salt, which foods contain sodium naturally and which packaged foods contain how much sodium as well as the health impacts of high-salt diet.
Do calories matter?
Yes, energy balance matters. Consistently consuming more energy than your body uses can contribute to weight gain.
But calories don't tell us everything about the quality of a food. Imagine two snacks containing roughly the same number of calories. One consists of sweets or biscuits.
The other contains natural yoghurt, berries, walnuts and seeds.
They may provide similar amounts of energy, but they don't provide the same amount of protein, fibre, vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids or other beneficial compounds.
The second snack is also likely to be more filling.
This is why, rather than immediately asking:
“How can I eat fewer calories?”
it can be more helpful to first ask:
“How can I improve the nutritional quality of the food I already eat?”
When we build meals around vegetables, protein, whole grains, legumes, fruit, nuts and seeds, we often improve both nutrient density and satiety at the same time.
Be mindful of portion sizes—but don't obsess over them
Portion size still matters, even when the food itself is nutritious.
Nuts are nutritious, for example, but that doesn't mean we need to eat half a bag at once. Extra virgin olive oil is an excellent source of unsaturated fat, but pouring large amounts over every meal can add considerable energy.
The same applies even more to energy-dense foods such as chocolate, cakes, biscuits, crisps and ice cream.
You don't necessarily need to eliminate these foods.
Enjoy them, but pay attention to how much and how often.
What does a healthy diet look like?
There isn't one perfect diet.
A healthy Estonian diet won't necessarily look exactly like a healthy Mediterranean, Japanese or Indian diet. But healthy dietary patterns tend to have some things in common.
They contain plenty of vegetables and other plant foods, whole or minimally processed foods, adequate protein, fibre-rich carbohydrates and mostly unsaturated fats.
They provide variety.
They meet our nutritional needs without routinely providing substantially more energy than we need.
And foods high in added/free sugars, salt and saturated fat are something we enjoy sometimes rather than something that forms the foundation of our diet.
You don't need a perfect diet to eat well
If you take one message away from this article, let it be this:
Healthy eating isn't all or nothing.
You don't have to stop eating burgers >> build a better burger
You don't have to give up pasta >>add vegetables and protein source and choose wholegrain pasta more often
You don't have to ban dessert >>enjoy it, but don't make dessert the nutritional foundation of your day
Look at the meals you eat regularly and choose one or two things you could improve.
Maybe you can change white bread to wholegrain rye bread
Maybe you can add vegetables to lunch
Maybe you can replace your afternoon biscuits with yoghurt, berries and nuts on most days.
Maybe you can start drinking more water instead of a soft drink.
Small changes that you can repeat week after week are far more valuable than following a “perfect” diet for a few weeks and then giving up.
Eat mostly whole foods. Eat plenty of plants. Include enough protein and fibre. Choose healthy fats. Enjoy your food. And remember that what you do most of the time matters much more than what you eat occasionally.
If you are looking to improve your diet, but don't know where to start, don't hesitate to reach out to me for personalised nutrition counselling at info@katrinpeo.com.
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