22/10/03
10:15 am
Page 2
Healthy Eating
A Whole Diet Approach
The importance of a healthy and varied diet
A good diet is important for good heath. A healthy and varied diet can help
to maintain a healthy body weight, enhance general wellbeing and reduce
the risk of a number of diseases including heart disease, stroke, cancer,
diabetes and osteoporosis.
What is a healthy diet?
A healthy diet is a diet based on breads, potatoes and other cereals and is
rich in fruit and vegetables. A healthy diet will include moderate amounts of
milk and dairy products, meat, fish or meat/milk alternatives, and limited
amounts of foods containing fat or sugar.
No single food can provide all the essential nutrients that the body needs.
Therefore it is important to consume a wide variety of foods to provide
adequate intakes of vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre, which are
important for health.
10971 A5 leaflet
22/10/03
10:16 am
Page 3
8 guidelines for
a healthy diet
Enjoy your food
Eat a variety of different foods
Eat the right amount to be a healthy
weight
Eat plenty of foods rich in starch
and fibre
Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables
Dont eat too many foods that
contain a lot of fat
Dont have sugary foods and drinks
too often
If you drink alcohol, drink sensibly
10971 A5 leaflet
22/10/03
10:16 am
Page 4
Vitamin C
Carotenes
Folate*
Fibre
Carbohydrate
a source of energy
10971 A5 leaflet
22/10/03
10:16 am
Page 5
Carbohydrate
a source of energy
Fibre
Some calcium
Some iron
B vitamins
Folate*
* Folic acid (400g/day) supplements (a form of folate) are recommended for women of childbearing age,
up until the 12th week of pregnancy. See www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyeating.htm for more information.
10971 A5 leaflet
22/10/03
10:16 am
Page 6
Calcium
needed for
development and
maintenance of healthy
bones
Zinc
Protein
Vitamin B12
Vitamin B2
Vitamin A
10971 A5 leaflet
22/10/03
10:16 am
Page 7
Iron
B Vitamins
Vitamin D
Zinc
Magnesium
Omega-3
fatty acids
Alternatives
These include nuts, tofu, mycoprotein,
textured vegetable protein (TVP), beans
such as kidney beans and canned baked
beans, and pulses such as lentils. These
foods provide protein, fibre and iron but
unlike those listed above are not a rich
source of zinc and generally provide no
vitamin B12 (unless fortified).
10971 A5 leaflet
22/10/03
10:16 am
Page 8
essential fats,
which must be supplied
by the diet in small amounts: omega-3 fatty
acids (e.g. found in oily fish, walnuts,
omega-3 enriched eggs, and rapeseed and
soya oil) and omega-6 fatty acids (e.g. found
in vegetable oils such as sunflower, corn
and soya oil and spreads made from these).
Sugar adds flavour and sweetness to foods,
but frequent consumption of sugar-containing
foods and drinks is associated with an
increased tendency towards tooth decay.
10971 A5 leaflet
22/10/03
10:15 am
Page 1
This leaflet is intended for all healthy individuals over the age of 5 years.
Further information on topics covered in this leaflet is available from
www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyeating.htm, or contact us at British Nutrition
Foundation, High Holborn House, 52-54 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6RQ.
www.nutrition.org.uk
Printed with an educational grant from Heinz. Further copies of this leaflet are
available from: www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyeating.htm
British Nutrition Foundation, 2003