Eating a healthy, balanced diet is an important part of
maintaining good health, and can help you feel your best. It doesn't have to be
difficult either.
These practical tips cover the basics of healthy eating, and
can help you make healthier choices:
Base your meals on starchy foods: Starchy foods should make up around one third of the
foods you eat. Starchy foods include potatoes, cereals, pasta, rice and bread.
Choose wholegrain varieties (or eat potatoes with their skins on) when you
can: they contain more fibre, and can help you feel full.
Most of us should eat more starchy foods: try to include at
least one starchy food with each main meal. Some people think starchy foods are
fattening, but gram for gram the carbohydrate they contain provides fewer than
half the calories of fat.
Eat lots of fruit and veg: It’s recommended that we eat at least five portions of
different types of fruit and veg a day. It’s easier than it sounds. A glass of
unsweetened 100% fruit juice (150ml) can count as one portion, and vegetables
cooked into dishes also count.
Eat more fish: Fish is a good source of protein and contains many vitamins
and minerals. Aim to eat at least two portions of fish a week,
including at least one portion of oily fish. Oily fish contains omega-3 fats,
which may help to prevent heart disease. You can choose from fresh,
frozen and canned: but remember that canned and smoked fish can be high in
salt.
Cut down on saturated fat and sugar; We all need some fat in our diet. But it’s important to pay
attention to the amount and type of fat we’re eating. There are two main types
of fat: saturated and unsaturated. Too much saturated fat can increase the
amount of cholesterol in the blood, which increases your risk of developing
heart disease.
Saturated fat is found in many foods, such as hard
cheese, cakes, biscuits, sausages, cream, butter, lard and pies. Try to
cut down on your saturated fat intake, and choose foods that contain
unsaturated fats instead, such as vegetable oils, oily fish and avocados.
For a healthier choice, use just a small amount of vegetable
oil or reduced-fat spread instead of butter, lard or ghee. When you're having
meat, choose lean cuts and cut off any visible fat.
Eat less salt: Even if you don’t add salt to your food, you may
still be eating too much. About three-quarters of the salt we eat is already in
the food we buy, such as breakfast cereals, soups, breads and sauces. Eating
too much salt can raise your blood pressure. People with high blood pressure
are more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke.
Get active and be a healthy weight; Eating a healthy, balanced diet plays an essential role in
maintaining a healthy weight, which is an important part of overall good
health. Being overweight or obese can lead to health conditions such as type 2
diabetes, certain cancers, heart disease and stroke. Being underweight could
also affect your health. Check whether you’re a healthy weight by using our Healthy
weight calculator.
Don't get thirsty: We need to drink about 1.6 to 2 litres of fluid every
day to stop us getting dehydrated. This is in addition to the fluid
we get from the food we eat. All non-alcoholic drinks count, but water
and lower-fat milk are healthier choices.
Try to avoid sugary soft and fizzy drinks that are high in
added sugars and calories, and are also bad for teeth. Even unsweetened
fruit juice is sugary, so try to limit how much you drink to no more than one
glass (about 150ml) of fruit juice each day.
When the weather is warm, or when we get active, we may need
more fluids.
Don’t skip breakfast: Some people skip breakfast because they think it will help
them lose weight. In fact, research shows that eating breakfast can help people
control their weight. A healthy breakfast is an important part of a
balanced diet, and
provides some of the vitamins and minerals we need for good health. A wholegrain,
lower-sugar cereal with fruit sliced over the top is a tasty and
nutritious breakfast.
