Diet
There's no ideal weight that suits everybody. Each person has a different body and their healthy weight will be determined by different factors.
A combination of food types
The term 'balanced diet' is one of those health mantras that is constantly heard but rarely explained. What it means is a diet that includes a combination of several different food types, including grains and pulses, fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, dairy products, fats and oils.
All in proportion
Crucial to the idea of a balanced diet is including foods in the right proportions; the aim is to get all the nutrients your body needs while maintaining a healthy weight. The US government provides a basic idea of what nutrients we need at www.nal.usda.gov. (These are guidelines for Americans, but we Brits aren't much different!)
Balancing act
In the UK, the Food Standards Agency has developed a programme called The Balance of Good Health to show people what proportions and types of foods make up a healthy balanced diet.
This divides foods into five different groups:
- bread, other cereals and potatoes
- fruit and vegetables
- milk and dairy foods
- meat, fish and alternatives
- foods containing fat and foods containing sugar
- The largest groups are bread and vegetables, followed by milk and meat.
- The smallest by far is the salt and sugar group.
Fresh fruit and vegetables are low in fat, calories and salt, and an excellent source of vitamins, minerals and fibre. Most of us don't eat enough to meet the current recommendation of three to five servings of vegetables and two to four servings of fruit a day.
Protein-rich foods and dairy foods are needed in more moderate amounts. Your diet should include two to three servings of milk or dairy produce a day, for example. Take care that protein-rich foods don't bring a lot of fat with them; trim the fat off meat and take the skin off chicken. Think about how you cook foods too; meat fried or in breadcrumbs adds extra fat
Combining foods
It's not too difficult to keep track of how many servings of certain individual foods we eat each day, such as an apple of a piece of cheese. But what happens when you throw a number of foods together in a meal?
All you need to do is break a meal down into its individual ingredients. For example, shepherd's pie with a cheesy crust combines foods from two or more groups, depending on how you make it, including:
- minced lamb or beef (meat)
- potato, carrot and onion (fruit and vegetables)
- cheese (milk and dairy)
The goal
Don't forget what you're trying to achieve:
- a variety of foods
- plenty of grains, vegetables and fruits
- low fat intake, especially saturated fats
- moderate sugar intake moderate salt intake
- keep a lid on alcohol intake
And, of course, don't forget to balance food intake with physical activity.
More information on food and diet www.food.gov.uk/healthiereating/
