Centrum
Search
 
Centrum
Did you know that?

Vitamin D can be produced in the skin from the sun's energy.

Did you know that?

Minerals often work with vitamins in the vital maintenance of the body.

Looking at your diet

Healthy eating and keeping physically active are both vital to our overall health and wellbeing.


General
A balanced diet
Dietary tips

General

Doctors and scientists have known for years that making the right choice of foods and drink, as well as staying active, can help you keep healthy. Making small changes to your lifestyle can dramatically affect how you feel.

Research has found that stopping smoking, exercising more and eating better could help increase your life expectancy.

The largest dietary survey of its kind in the UK2, shows:

  • A number of people in the UK are not getting their recommended daily allowance of some essential nutrients from the food they eat.
  • On average men eat only 2.7 portions of fruit and vegetables daily and women eat 2.9 portions compared to the recommended five a day.
  • Young adults fare even worse - only 4% of women and no men aged 19 - 24 have the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables daily.

Are you one of the many who may be jeopardising your wellbeing because you do not have adequate intake of these nutrients?

A balanced diet

The fact that vitamin deficiency conditions such as scurvy have been largely eradicated in Britain seems to suggest that the diet is adequate. However, it has been suggested that marginal deficiency is a problem that often goes unrecognized, particularly in certain groups of the population, e.g. the elderly, individuals on low income and smokers.

For a healthy 'balanced' diet, it is recommended that you aim to eat a variety of foods every day including:

  • 5 servings of fruit or vegetables
  • 2-3 servings of milk, cheese or yoghurt
  • 2 servings of protein-rich foods such as fish, meat, pulses or eggs.
  • 5-6 servings of starchy foods: bread, pasta, cereals, rice, grains.
Dietary tips
  1. Drink water
    Drink at least 6-8 glasses of liquids per day and try to make at least 3-4 of these water. Water helps to eliminate toxins, keeps cells healthy and improves the appearance and texture of skin. Dehydration reduces your ability to concentrate and to perform well.
  2. Eat breakfast
    Eating a healthy breakfast, such as cereal with semi-skimmed or skimmed milk and fruit, provides valuable nutrients and helps prevent unhealthy snacking later in the morning.
  3. Take five
    Aim to eat at least 5 portions each day of fruit and vegetables. Make this easy by preparing fruit smoothies, vegetable soups and choosing fruit as a snack.
  4. Watch your portion sizes
    Larger portions encourage us to eat more when we don't necessarily need the extra calories. Be particularly aware of this when eating out.
  5. Taste what you eat…
    Try the old maxim: 'Taste what you eat and eat what you enjoy, and, when you stop enjoying, stop eating'. Often we eat habitually, not actually tasting the food we eat. When we really taste what we eat we may find that we enjoy what we didn't know we did and, conversely, do not actually enjoy what we think we do. Really tasting the food we eat makes it easier both to prefer appropriate foods and food quantities, and to give up inappropriate or inadvisable ones.
  6. Go wholemeal
    Wholemeal bread, pasta and rice are more filling and contain more vitamins, minerals and fibre than white varieties.
  7. Less salt
    Limit the salt in your diet to less than 6g per day (2.4g sodium). Avoid adding salt to cooking or at the table. Limit salty snacks and check how much is in processed foods (1g of salt = 0.4g of sodium).
  8. Lean meat
    Meat is a good source of protein, iron and other nutrients, but, when eating meat, remove the visible fat and keep high fat products, such as sausages, beefburgers and salami, to a minimum.
  9. Less fat
    Reduce the amount of fat in your diet. Choose lower fat alternatives when possible and grill foods instead of frying.
  10. Don't feel guilty about snacking
    Snacking on fruit, yoghurt, low fat milk shakes, a few nuts or sunflower seeds can all be valuable contributions to your nutrient, energy and fibre intake. It may also help to prevent you over-eating at meal times.

    Remember - there are no bad foods, only bad diets. The combination of foods in your diet determines how healthy it is, and you don't need to deny yourself everything.

2 NDNS survey vol 1 2002