Healthy eating plan
Many people aren't sure what a healthy eating plan is. This is perhaps not surprising given the huge variety of often conflicting advice on offer. The good news is that developing a healthy eating plan isn't complicated once you have grasped the basics.
A healthy eating plan should include the following:
-
5 a day fruit and vegetables. Any good diet should include at least five servings of fruit and veg each day - one serving is approximately 80g, that's one medium apple or two medium plums. Ideally you should be looking to have five different types each day.
This is not as hard as it sounds - in addition to fresh fruit and veg, the five a day can include frozen, canned, dried and pure juices. And to make it easier, this group also includes beans, pulses and lentils - even the British favourite, baked beans. -
Bread, Cereals, Potatoes - five a day of these too. This group includes bread, potatoes, breakfast cereals, pasta, rice, noodles, oats and other cereals. As with fruit and veg, look to eat a variety each day, and watch out for heavily sugared breakfast cereals.
-
Milk and Dairy - two to three servings daily. Included in this group are milk, cheese, yoghurt and fromage frais, but not butter, eggs and cream.
-
Meat, Fish etc. Two to three servings daily, with lower fat options being better choices. Options include eggs, poultry, and meat, including items such as burgers and fishcakes. For non-meat eaters, alternatives such as nuts, tofu, mycoprotein, textured vegetable protein (TVP) and kidney beans will help to meet protein needs.
- Butter
- Margarine
- Oil
- Mayonnaise
- Cream
- Crisps
- Fried foods
- Soft drinks
- Sweets
- Jam
- Cakes
- Chocolate
- Biscuits
- Pastries
- Ice-cream