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Healthy Eating

A healthy diet may help to prevent certain chronic (long-term) diseases such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes. It may also help to reduce your risk of developing some cancers and help you to keep a healthy weight. This leaflet explains the principles of a healthy diet. It is general advice for most people. The advice may be different for certain groups of people, including pregnant women, people with certain health problems or those with special dietary requirements.

A note about the different food groups

Your body needs energy to work normally and keep you alive. You get this energy from nutrients in the food that you eat - mostly, carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Minerals and vitamins are other nutrients that are also important in your diet to help your body stay healthy.

It is important to get the right balance between these different nutrients to get maximum health benefits (see below). Your diet should contain food from each of the following food groups:

• Starchy foods such as bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, etc.
• Fruit and vegetables.
• Milk and dairy foods.
• Protein foods. These include meat, fish, eggs and other non-dairy sources of protein (including nuts, tofu, beans, pulses, etc).

Fatty and sugary foods are the fifth food group that you eat. However, only a small amount of what you eat should be made up from fatty and sugary foods. In addition to the above, plenty of fibre and water in your diet is also important for your health.

What are the benefits of a healthy diet?

A healthy diet may help to prevent certain serious diseases such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes. It may also help to reduce your risk of developing some cancers. If you become sick, eating a healthy diet may help you to recover more quickly. Also, a main way of preventing obesity and overweight is to eat a healthy diet. If you are overweight or obese, eating a healthy diet can help you lose weight.

What makes up a healthy diet?

As a general rule, starchy foods and fruit and vegetables should provide the bulk of most of your meals. About one third of your diet should be made up from starchy foods and about one third from fruit and vegetables. The remaining one third of your diet should be made up from milk and dairy foods and protein foods. As mentioned above, you should limit the amount of foods and drinks that are high in fat or sugar.

Below, the principles of a healthy diet are explained. It is general advice for most people. If you have a specific health problem, or specific dietary requirements, this advice may not apply to you. If in doubt, you should check with your doctor. There are also some changes that pregnant women need to make to their diet. See separate leaflet called 'Pregnancy - Planning to Become Pregnant' for more details.

Eat plenty of starchy foods (complex carbohydrates)

As mentioned above, starchy foods such as bread, breakfast cereals, potatoes, rice, and pasta, together with fruit and vegetables, should provide the bulk of most meals. Some people wrongly think that starchy foods are fattening. In fact, they contain about half the calories of the same weight of fat. (However, it is easy to add fat to some starchy foods. For example, by adding butter to jacket potatoes or bread, or by adding oil to potatoes to make chips, etc.)

Carbohydrate is an important energy source for your body. Starchy foods often contain a lot of fibre (roughage). When you eat starchy foods, you get a feeling of fullness (satiety) which helps to control appetite. They also contain other vitamins and minerals important for health.

Tips to increase starchy foods include the following:

• For most meals, include a portion of, for example, rice, pasta, baked potatoes, or bread.
• For more fibre, choose wholemeal bread, brown rice or wholemeal pasta. When baking, use wholemeal flour.
• If you have cereals for breakfast, choose porridge, high-fibre cereals, or whole grain cereals (without sugar coating).
• Have tea breads, and plain or fruit scones, instead of sugary cakes and biscuits.

Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables

It is recommended that we eat at least five portions of a variety of fruit or vegetables each day. If you eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, then your chances of developing heart disease, a stroke, or bowel cancer are reduced. In addition, fruit and vegetables:

• Contain lots of fibre which helps to keep your bowels healthy. Problems such as constipation and diverticular disease are less likely to develop.
• Contain plenty of vitamins and minerals, which are needed to keep you healthy.
• Are naturally low in fat.
• Are filling but are low in calories.

One portion of fruit or vegetables is roughly equivalent to one of the following:

• One large fruit such as an apple, pear, banana, orange, or a large slice of melon or pineapple.
• Two smaller fruits such as plums, kiwis, satsumas, clementines, etc.
• One cup (or a handful) of small fruits such as grapes, strawberries, raspberries, cherries, etc.
• Two large tablespoons of fruit salad, stewed or canned fruit in natural juices.
• One tablespoon of dried fruit.
• One glass of fresh fruit juice (150 ml).
• About three heaped tablespoons of any vegetable.
• One dessert bowl of salad.

Some tips on how to increase fruit and vegetables in your diet include:

• Try some different types that you have not tried before. The variety of tastes and textures may be surprising. Juices, frozen, canned, and dried varieties all count.
• Try adding chopped bananas, apples, or other fruits to breakfast cereals.
• Aim to include at least two different vegetables with most main meals. Do not overboil vegetables. Steaming, stir-frying, or lightly boiling are best to retain the nutrients.
• Try always to have fruit or fruit juice with a meal.
• Try new recipes which include fruit. For example, some curries or stews include fruit such as dried apricots. Have fruit-based puddings. Fruit with yoghurt is a common favourite.
• How about cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, dried apricots, or other fruits as part of packed lunches?
• Fruit is great for snacks. Encourage children to snack with fruit rather than with sweets.