Make Healthy Eating a Lifetime Habit

Custom Search

Food provides us with valuable nutrients to help our bodies to work properly making healthy eating a must. No single food contains all the amounts nutrients needed, so a combination of nutritious foods has to be eaten.

There are 5 common food groups:

• Carbohydrates – bread, pasta & potatoes

• Fruit and vegetables

• Milk and dairy

• Protein - meat, fish and alternatives

• Foods containing fat and foods/drinks containing sugar

Choosing a variety of foods from the first four groups every day will help to ensure that you obtain the wide range of nutrients that your body needs for it to remain healthy and to function properly.

Foods that contain saturated fats and sugar are not essential for a healthy diet, but can add choice and flavour.

Although aiming to achieve this balance of food groups every day is a sensible approach, it's not necessary to achieve this with every meal.

Healthy eating starts with eating a variety of fruit and vegetables that will supply your body with plenty of vitamins and minerals. For example, many are high in folic acid, vitamin C and Potassium. Fruit and vegetables are also a good source of fibre and antioxidants. All of these nutrients are very important for good health.

Fruit and vegetables are generally low fat, low calorie foods and are easily used in healthy recipes. So eating fruit and vegetables instead of foods that are high in fat and sugars can help you achieve or maintain healthy weight.

Fresh, frozen, chilled, canned, 100% juice, and dried fruit and vegetables all count The fruit and vegetables contained in convenience foods – such as ready meals, pasta sauces, soups and puddings – can contribute to your daily quota but fresh is always best.

Convenience foods can be high in added salt, sugar or fat – which should only be eaten in moderation – so it’s important always to check the nutritional information on the food labels.

For extra sweetness you can chop fruit onto cereal, or blend it into desserts.

Buying fresh fruit or vegetables when they are in season means that eating them is not only cheaper, but tastier and more varied too. Vegetables are really easy to incorporate into healthy recipes.

For a modern twist on a fruit salad, try bite-sized chunks of fruit such as apples, pears, strawberries and pineapple onto wooden skewers to make fruit kebabs. You can either eat them raw or warm them under a grill, or even cook them on the barbeque!

Sweet, colourful, convenient and juicy...

There are so many different types of fruit and vegetables that there’s something for everyone.

And they’re even easy to eat when you’re on the move.

Need to fill a gap before dinner? Have a piece of fruit or if you prefer savoury snacks, try some refreshing celery or a crunchy carrot.

If you need to cook dinner in a hurry then frozen, canned or pre packed vegetables are quick and easy to cook and still count towards your daily quota

Stir fries take only a few minutes to prepare, and make a tasty meal.

Microwaving vegetables is a quick and easy way to cook and helps to preserve vitamins.

healthy eating

Return To Home Page