Healthy balance
All foods can be part of a healthy diet – it’s achieving the right balance and variety of foods that’s important for health.
If you want to live a long and healthy life, most experts agree that eating a healthy balanced diet and staying active are two of the most important things you can do to improve the odds. But what exactly is a healthy balanced diet? Does it mean a life without cakes, crisps and chocolate and eating lots of lentils, vegetables and brown rice?
When it comes to healthy eating, the most important thing to remember is that, despite what newspaper headlines may say, there are no such things as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ foods. The odd biscuit or packet of crisps here and there isn’t going to do any harm if the rest of your diet is healthy.
The secret to a healthy diet is balance. To help you get it right, nutritionists have divided foods into five groups shown above in the Eatwell plate.
To ensure you get all the nutrients your body needs, you need to eat some food from each of the food groups each day. Foods from the largest groups should be eaten most often.
These are the 5 main food groups
Select the food types below for more information and tasty ideas:
For a healthy diet most of us need to eat more fruit and vegetables (aim for at least 5 servings a-day), less fat (particularly the saturated variety found in full fat diary products and fatty cuts of meat), more wholegrain starchy foods like wholemeal bread and wholegrain cereals and less salt and sugar.
For more advice and tips on healthy eating visit eatwell.co.uk.
Adapted from the Eatwell plate in discussion with the Food Standards Agency.
The Eat well plate is suitable for all adults and children over the age of 5.
This information is a guide only and should not replace advice given from your healthcare professional.
