Healthy Diet for a Teenage Boy

Teenage boys have a reputation for eating everything under the sun, so it's no wonder many families stock inexpensive junk foods. This can backfire, though, resulting in a boy who is starving for nutrition and tipping the scales. It's worth the cost of real and wholesome foods to feed a boy right, helping him maintain a healthy body size and making sure that his body and mind are developing with the nutrition they need.

Protein

• Growing muscles need protein, and lean meats are a nutritious source of whole protein. A complete protein has all 23 amino acids, and people once believed that you had to combine legumes with whole grains in the same meal to make a complete protein. Nutritionists have proven now that incomplete protein sources are still valuable, combining in the body. Rice and beans are much less expensive than meat.

Fruits & Vegetables

• Fruits and vegetables can provide boys with the sweets they crave, while also giving them the fiber, vitamins and minerals essential for proper digestion, organ function and brain development. A lot of teenage boys are eating a diet of processed food products that don't have the nutrients that fruits and vegetables supply, and they end up hungrier and hungrier.

Whole Grains

• Removing refined grains from the diet is one of the best ways to make sure that your body is getting the fiber it needs for digestion. Highly processed foods are difficult to digest, and provide little in the way of fiber, vitamins and minerals. Whole grains on the other hand, are essential for weight loss and proper digestion.

Water

• Drink water instead of soda pop. Soda has almost all of your daily calories with none of the nutrients. Water puffs up the fiber in your food, helping it scrub your insides clean and helping you feel full to avoid overeating. Water also helps make sure that the nutrients in your food make it into your bloodstream. Sports drinks are OK when you're sweating, but for everyday thirst quenching, stick with water.