Nutrition and diet

Nutrition and Diet – Lesson Overview

This B1-level lesson introduces essential vocabulary and expressions related to nutrition and diet in Bulgarian. It covers common terms used to discuss healthy eating habits, types of food, and dietary preferences. The goal is to help learners comfortably talk about nutrition, understand basic dietary advice, and describe what they eat.

Key Vocabulary and Phrases

• Храна (food) – Refers generally to anything edible.
• Диета (diet) – Used both for a type of diet and the concept of dieting or eating habits.
• Здравословен (healthy) – Describes something good for health, e.g., здравословна храна (healthy food).
• Витамини (vitamins) – Important nutrients discussed in nutrition contexts.
• Мазнини (fats) and Протеини (proteins) – Basic macronutrients frequently mentioned.
• Плодове и зеленчуци (fruits and vegetables) – Commonly recommended in a balanced diet.

Important Expressions

• Какво ядеш за закуска? – What do you eat for breakfast?
• Опитвам се да ям здравословно. – I try to eat healthily.
• Трябва да намаля мазнините. – I need to reduce fats.
• Тази диета включва много плодове. – This diet includes a lot of fruits.

Lesson Content Highlights

The lesson explains how to describe daily meals, explain dietary restrictions or preferences, and understand advice about healthy living shared by nutritionists. It also introduces basic grammar structures commonly used when talking about habits and preferences, such as the present tense of verbs like ям (to eat) and modal verbs for necessity or advice.

Language Tips: Bulgarian versus English

In Bulgarian, nouns have gender and change form depending on number and case, which differs from English. For example, the word for "food" is храна, feminine singular. Also, Bulgarian often uses the present tense where English might use a progressive form: Ям плодове means "I eat fruits" but can also be interpreted as "I am eating fruits." Modal verbs like трябва (should, must) appear before the verb, e.g., Трябва да пия повече вода (I should drink more water).

Useful phrases include:

• Здравословна храна – Healthy food
• Ям балансирана диета – I eat a balanced diet
• Обичам да готвя – I love to cook
• Намалявам захарта – I reduce sugar