Eating a Balanced Diet For a Healthier Lifestyle
Good nutrition and exercise are crucial to our general health and well being. A healthy lifestyle which incorporates a healthy diet and exercise will help you look and feel better. It will help you to control your weight and make you feel more energised and fitter. A healthy diet can help combat the stress, help prevent or reduce the symptoms of depression or a low mood and boost your immune system. A healthy diet has also been shown to help reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity and certain cancers.
Healthy eating should be about enjoying your food and having a better understanding of the foods you eat. The most effective way of changing your unhealthy eating habits is to make small changes gradually, by choosing a good balance of foods. Healthy eating is not about making drastic changes which you will be unable to sustain. We should not think of foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ but consider healthy or unhealthy diets that can impact our health.
To eat a healthy balanced diet we need to take in a variety of foods from the five main food groups. This enables us to take in all the nutrients that are required by our bodies to run efficiently.
1. Fruit and vegetables:
They should make up 1/3 of your total food intake. The UK government recommend that we eat our ‘5 a day’, aiming for 5 portions from this group of foods which provides us with vitamin C, folic acid, dietary fibre, some carbohydrate, potassium and antioxidants.
What is a portion?
Top tips to increase your intake:
2. Breads, cereals and potatoes:
Starchy foods (carbohydrates) should make up about 1/3 of our intake. Starchy foods provide the main source of energy for our bodies. The wholegrain varieties have higher nutritional content; they contain insoluble fibre which helps prevent constipation while maintaining a healthy gut. Oats contain soluble fibre which can help to reduce blood cholesterol in those with high levels and reduce their risk of heart disease.
What is a portion?
Top tips to increase your intake:
3. Meat, fish and alternatives:
This food group provides protein, vitamins and minerals and iron. Protein is vital to our bodies to be able to make the building blocks of the body such as muscles, ligaments, organs, hormones, blood cells and enzymes. Vegetable sources of protein come from pulses, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds can also provide protein. About 1/8 of our diets should be made up of this group.
What is a portion?
Top tips:
Meat is a good source of protein and contains iron and zinc. However it is the main source of saturated fat in the diet, which we should keep to a minimum to protect ourselves from heart disease.
Oily fish contains omega 3 fatty acids that are important in the diet to help protect against heart disease and also important for your skin, immune system and brain development in infants and children. Try to eat oily fish 2-3 times per week such as mackerel, herring, sardines or salmon. Alternatively, you can get vegetables sources from linseed, flaxseed, walnut and rapeseed oils.
Vegetarian protein:
If you follow a vegetarian diet try to include a good variety of beans, lentils, pulses, nuts and seeds each day to get a good balance.
4. Milk and dairy products or dairy-free alternatives:
These foods contain protein, calcium and vitamins. These products are important for healthy bones and especially important for growing children. Ideally we should include 3 portions of dairy foods or alternatives per day.
What is a portion?
Choose:
5. Foods high in fat and sugar, drinks high in sugar:
These foods contain calories and only small amounts of other nutrients. Examples included: fizzy or soft drinks, sports drinks, energy bars and gels, biscuits, crisps, pastries, jam, honey and convenience foods. It is important that we don’t eat too many of these foods because they can cause weight gain and also don’t provide us with many nutrients. These foods should only make up a very small portion of our diets (7%). Very active sports people may get their additional energy from sports drinks and energy bars to meet their high energy requirements.
Fats are important in our diets as they provide fat soluble vitamins, energy and essential fatty acids. Having a lot of fat in our diets will make us gain weight, and too many saturated or trans fats affect cholesterol levels. Try to keep your intake of total fat, saturated and trans fats low.
Cut down on
For more diet, health, food and fitness information visit www.weightplan.com
Tags: boost your immune system, healthy diet, fruit and vegetables, healthy lifestyle, nutrition, portion
Healthy eating should be about enjoying your food and having a better understanding of the foods you eat. The most effective way of changing your unhealthy eating habits is to make small changes gradually, by choosing a good balance of foods. Healthy eating is not about making drastic changes which you will be unable to sustain. We should not think of foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ but consider healthy or unhealthy diets that can impact our health.
To eat a healthy balanced diet we need to take in a variety of foods from the five main food groups. This enables us to take in all the nutrients that are required by our bodies to run efficiently.
1. Fruit and vegetables:
They should make up 1/3 of your total food intake. The UK government recommend that we eat our ‘5 a day’, aiming for 5 portions from this group of foods which provides us with vitamin C, folic acid, dietary fibre, some carbohydrate, potassium and antioxidants.
What is a portion?
- 1 medium piece of fruit (apple, banana, pear).
- 1 small glass of fruit
- 1 small cup of grapes or cherries
- 1 handful dried fruit
- 1 medium bowl of salad
- 2 tablespoons of vegetables
Top tips to increase your intake:
- Try eating fruit and vegetables with meals
- Drink a glass of fruit juice every day
- Have salads with meals or in sandwiches
- Take fruit or dried fruit as a snack, or add to breakfast cereals
- Try making fruit smoothies
- Try fruit based desserts
- Use canned, fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables
2. Breads, cereals and potatoes:
Starchy foods (carbohydrates) should make up about 1/3 of our intake. Starchy foods provide the main source of energy for our bodies. The wholegrain varieties have higher nutritional content; they contain insoluble fibre which helps prevent constipation while maintaining a healthy gut. Oats contain soluble fibre which can help to reduce blood cholesterol in those with high levels and reduce their risk of heart disease.
What is a portion?
- Try to eat at least 5 portions of foods from this group per day
- 1 portion = 2 tablespoons of rice, pasta, noodles or oats
- 1 portion = 3 tablespoons of breakfast cereal
- 1 portion = 1 piece of bread, or 3 crackers
Top tips to increase your intake:
- Eat a variety of foods from this group
- Try different types of breads; whole grains, seeded, rye, mixed grains, granary, tortillas, bagels and pitta
- Try potatoes, plantain, yam, sweet potatoe
- Try wholegrain breakfast cereals
- Use cous cous, bulgar wheat and different varieties of rice
- Try porridge or baked beans as a good source of soluble fibre
3. Meat, fish and alternatives:
This food group provides protein, vitamins and minerals and iron. Protein is vital to our bodies to be able to make the building blocks of the body such as muscles, ligaments, organs, hormones, blood cells and enzymes. Vegetable sources of protein come from pulses, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds can also provide protein. About 1/8 of our diets should be made up of this group.
What is a portion?
- 50-100g lean meat, poultry of oily fish (size of palm of hand)
- 1-2 eggs
- 3 tablespoons cooked beans/pulses/lentils
- 2 tablespoons of nuts/seeds
Top tips:
Meat is a good source of protein and contains iron and zinc. However it is the main source of saturated fat in the diet, which we should keep to a minimum to protect ourselves from heart disease.
- Choose lean cuts of meat – try to eat more white meats and fish and opt for red meat twice per week
- Trim off visible fat
- Do not eat the skin on the chicken
- Grill, baked or dry roast the meat
- Skim off any excess fat when cooking mince
- Don’t eat processed meat products too often as they are high in saturated fat and salt
Oily fish contains omega 3 fatty acids that are important in the diet to help protect against heart disease and also important for your skin, immune system and brain development in infants and children. Try to eat oily fish 2-3 times per week such as mackerel, herring, sardines or salmon. Alternatively, you can get vegetables sources from linseed, flaxseed, walnut and rapeseed oils.
Vegetarian protein:
If you follow a vegetarian diet try to include a good variety of beans, lentils, pulses, nuts and seeds each day to get a good balance.
4. Milk and dairy products or dairy-free alternatives:
These foods contain protein, calcium and vitamins. These products are important for healthy bones and especially important for growing children. Ideally we should include 3 portions of dairy foods or alternatives per day.
What is a portion?
- 200mls of milk (large glass)
- 1 pot yogurt/fromage frais/ yogurt drink
- Matchbox size of cheese (25g)
- 100g cottage cheese
Choose:
- Semi skimmed or skimmed milk (green or red top)
- Choose full fat from children 1-5years (Blue top)
- Choose low fat options (not in children under 5 years)
- If using full fat variety use less quantity
- If vegan, or intolerant to cow's milk try suitable calcium enriched alternative products
5. Foods high in fat and sugar, drinks high in sugar:
These foods contain calories and only small amounts of other nutrients. Examples included: fizzy or soft drinks, sports drinks, energy bars and gels, biscuits, crisps, pastries, jam, honey and convenience foods. It is important that we don’t eat too many of these foods because they can cause weight gain and also don’t provide us with many nutrients. These foods should only make up a very small portion of our diets (7%). Very active sports people may get their additional energy from sports drinks and energy bars to meet their high energy requirements.
Fats are important in our diets as they provide fat soluble vitamins, energy and essential fatty acids. Having a lot of fat in our diets will make us gain weight, and too many saturated or trans fats affect cholesterol levels. Try to keep your intake of total fat, saturated and trans fats low.
Cut down on
- Fizzy and soft drinks and instead go for water or unsweetened fruit juice
- Sweet and biscuits try instead piece of fruit or slice or fruit/malt loaf
- Cakes, biscuits and puddings and instead try fruit or fruit yogurts
- Choose wholegrain breakfast cereals that don’t have a sugar coating
- Do not add sugar to tea, coffee or breakfast cereals
- Check food labels and pick foods with less added sugar or go for the low sugar option
- Take away foods
- Processed foods always check the labels. A low fat product should have less than 5g fat or less than 3g saturated fat per 100g.
- Crisps and salted nuts.
For more diet, health, food and fitness information visit www.weightplan.com
Tags: boost your immune system, healthy diet, fruit and vegetables, healthy lifestyle, nutrition, portion