Base meals on starchy carbohydrates
Starchy foods include potatoes, cereals, pasta, rice and bread. Try to go for wholegrain or wholemeal varieties where you can. These foods should make up about a third of your diet. Although these food have a bad reputation, they are a very healthy food group. It’s what we add to them that is important, so try to cut down on added fat, sugar or high fat dairy to this group to keep it healthy!
Eat lots of fruit and veg
In the UK we recommend at least 4 portions of fruit and vegetables a day. A portion is about 80g or roughly a handful. Frozen, fresh, dried, tinned and juiced fruit and veg all count, so there are plenty of ways to get more into you.
Cut down on saturated fat and sugar
It’s a good idea to have some fat in our diet, but it’s the type of fat that’s important. There are two main types of fat: saturated and unsaturated. Saturated fats raise the levels of bad cholesterol in our blood, which can lead to heart disease. It’s found in foods such as cakes, pies, biscuits, sausages, cream, butter, lard and hard cheese. Try to cut down, and choose foods that contain unsaturated rather than saturated fats, such as vegetable oils, nuts, oily fish and avocados.
Eat less salt
Even if you don’t add salt to your food, you may still be eating too much. About 75% 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 and try not to eat more than 6g per day.
Eat the right amount to be a healthy weight
Often eating the wrong food, or too much food, can lead to weight gain. This can seriously increase your risks of heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers. Check out the BMI calculator on the NHS Choices website to see if you are the right weight for your height. http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyweightcalculator.aspx
Drinks
We need to drink about 6-8 cups of fluid every day to stop us getting dehydrated. Tea, coffee and squash can count, but alcohol doesn’t and water and fruit juices are the healthiest. Try to avoid sugary soft and fizzy drinks that are high in added sugars and can be high in empty calories and bad for teeth. Even ‘diet’ soft drinks can still be very acidic and damage your teeth.
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. This is because you’re less likely to snack on unhealthy things later on if you’ve had a healthy breakfast. Try a low sugar cereal with chopped fruit and semi skimmed milk, or a poached egg on wholemeal toast.
