Eight tips for healthy eating
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. Just follow these eight tips to get started.
The key to a healthy diet is to do the following:
- Eat the right amount of calories for how active
you are, so that you balance the energy you consume with the energy you
use. If you eat or drink too much, you’ll put on weight. If you eat and
drink too little, you’ll lose weight. It is recommended that men
have around 2,500 calories a day (10,500 kilojoules). Women should
have around 2,000 calories a day (8,400 kilojoules). Most adults are
eating more calories than they need, and should eat fewer calories.
- Eat a wide range of foods to ensure
that you’re getting a balanced diet and that your body is
receiving all the nutrients it needs.
Get started
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. Why not chop a banana over your
breakfast cereal, or swap your usual mid-morning snack for a piece of fresh
fruit?
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.
Oily fish include salmon, mackerel, trout, herring, fresh tuna,
sardines and pilchards. Non-oily fish include haddock, plaice, coley, cod,
tinned tuna, skate and hake. If you regularly eat a lot of fish, try to choose
as wide a variety as possible.
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.
Most people in the UK eat and drink too much sugar. Sugary foods
and drinks, including alcoholic drinks, are often high in energy
(measured in kilojoules or calories), and if eaten too often,
can contribute to weight gain. They can also cause tooth decay, especially
if eaten between meals.
Cut down on sugary fizzy drinks, alcoholic drinks, sugary breakfast
cereals, cakes, biscuits and pastries, which contain added sugars: this is
the kind of sugar we should be cutting down on, rather than sugars that are
found in things such as fruit and milk.
Food labels can help: use them to check how much
sugar foods contain. More than 22.5g of total sugars per 100g means that
the food is high in sugar, while 5g of total sugars or less per 100g means
that the food is low in sugar.
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.
Use food labels to help you cut down. More than 1.5g of salt per
100g means the food is high in salt. Adults and children over 11 should eat no
more than 6g of salt a day. Younger children should have even less.
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.
Most adults need to lose weight, and need to
eat fewer calories to do this. If you're trying to lose weight, aim to eat less
and be more active. Eating a healthy, balanced diet will help: aim to cut
down on foods that are high in fat and sugar, and eat plenty of fruit and
vegetables.
Don't forget that alcohol is also high in calories, so cutting down
can help you to control your weight.
Physical activity can help you to maintain weight loss or be a
healthy weight. Being active doesn’t have to mean hours at the gym: you can
find ways to fit more activity into your daily life. For example, try getting
off the bus one stop early on the way home from work, and walking. Being
physically active may help reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2
diabetes. For more ideas, see Get active your way.
After getting active, remember not to reward yourself with a treat
that is high in energy. If you feel hungry after activity, choose foods or
drinks that are lower in calories, but still filling.
If you’re underweight, see our page on underweight
adults. If you're worried about your weight, ask your GP or a dietitian
for advice.
Don't get
thirsty
We need to drink about 1.6-2.0 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 milk are the most healthy.
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 drink 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. Wholemeal cereal with fruit sliced over the
top is a tasty and nutritious breakfast.
More information
- To help you get the
right balance of the four main food groups, take a look at the
eatwell plate.
- To maintain a healthy diet, the eatwell
plate shows you how much of what you eat should come from each food
group. It's important to have only small amounts of foods high in fat
and/or sugar.
- Learn how to have a
balanced diet, and
read about the energy contained in food in our page
on understanding calories.
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