Healthy Eating Guidelines That Apply To Most People

By Cecelia Yap

Healthy eating guidelines I suggest here aren't complicated once you know the basics.

I know many of you are not sure of what healthy eating means. This comes as no surprise to me since you're bombarded with lots of advice, some of them could even be conflicting.....

Healthy eating means you eat a balanced, nutritious diet with the food sourced from different varieties, that provides you with all the required nutrients namely vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, proteins and fiber.

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Let's see what you should eat to make up for a healthy, balanced, nutritious diet:

1. Eat Plenty of Fruits & Vegetables

At least 2 servings of fruits and 5 servings of vegetables every day.

Note: 1 serving of fruit is = 1 medium-sized piece, or 2 small pieces, for vegetables. It's about half a cup, if in cooked form.

And variety is the key. Maximise your benefits by eating many types of fruits and vegetables. One way is to eat as many different-colored fruits and vegetables as you can.

Diets that are high in fruits and vegetables can substantially lower your risks of coronary heart disease, stroke, several types of cancers, high blood pressure, obesity and type 2 diabetes.

2. Eat Lots of Whole grains & Cereals

At least 4 servings every day for women and 5 for men.

Note: 1 serving is 2 slices of bread or 1 cup of cooked rice or pasta.

To meet your daily targeted servings, eat bread (wholegrain) with each meal and regularly using wholegrain rice, pasta or noodles to accompany hot dishes, and having cereal for breakfast.

P/S: Cakes, biscuits and pastries don't count here - they contain lots of fats (saturated and trans fats) and should be foods you only eat occasionally.

Wholegrains and cereals benefit you in many ways: a lower risk of coronary heart disease and some cancers, particularly bowel cancer.

3. Eat Lean Meat, Fish, Chicken and/or Alternatives such as Legumes and Nuts

You should eat a moderate serving of lean meat 3-4 times every week. For fish, you should eat it 3-4 times every week, to get your intake of omega-3 fatty acids.

Meat and fish are rich in iron, which is absorbed better by your body. Iron helps in the production of red blood cells.

They're also rich in protein, zinc and vitamin B12.

Meats that are rich in iron are livers, oysters, mussels, beef, lamb, chicken and pork.

4. Reduce Intake of Saturated Fats and Trans Fats

These 2 fats combined shouldn't make up more than 10% of your total calories every day.

Saturated fats are found in milk, cream, butter, cheese, fatty meats, palm and coconut oil, and in hydrogenated vegetable oil used in many processed foods.

You should:

• Go for reduced and low-fat milk, cheese and yoghurt
• Choose polyunsaturated fats such as sunflower, soy and corn oil or monounsaturated fats like olive, peanut and canola oils
• Eat only Lean cuts of meat from chicken, pork, beef, lamb
• Cut back on fatty minced sausages and processed luncheon meats. Limit creamy sauces and gravies. Most fast foods like fried chicken, burgers and chips are high in saturated fat. Cut back on biscuits, pastries and cakes (commercial ones are usually high in saturated fats and trans fats)

An upper daily limit of 2,300 mg of salt (sodium) is the threshold. This is just about a teaspoon of salt.

This amount of allowed sodium includes table salt and salt used in cooking and salt present in processed foods (estimated at about 75% of total salt intake).

Choose to eat low and reduced-salt versions of breads (a "bigtime" source of salt), breakfast cereals, baked beans and cut down on fast foods which contain high levels of sodiums. Also look out for stock cubes and MSG which are high in sodium too.

When you cut back on salt, you stop your blood pressure getting higher as you get older (note: high blood pressure is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke) and you also get to reduce high blood pressure, if you already got one.

6. Avoid Sugary Food

Your total sugar intake, which includes naturally occurring sugars in fruit and milk as well as sucrose (table sugar), glucose, fructose, malt or honey, shouldn't make up more than 20% of your total daily calories.

Sugar adds to your calories with no nutrient(s) given to you. It's the culprit behind tooth decay.

You should avoid eating foods high in sugars: confectionery, soft drinks, cakes, biscuits and pastries.

7. Drink Plenty of Water

Drink 6 - 8 glasses (1.5 to 2 litres) of water every day.

Water has no calories, so you can drink without any kind of concern. However, don't "overdrink" lest you get water retention.

Water is needed for digestion, absorption, transportation and as a solvent for nutrients, for elimination of waste products and temperature regulation. So, don't ignore it!

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Cecelia Yap is an avid exerciser and author of the popular exercise website: perfect-body-toning.com - a web site born out of her passion which she successfully turns into a profitable business

Perhaps you have a passion or hobby you'd like to write about. Find out how you too can turn it into a profitable business like Cecelia does, here: http://www.perfect-body-toning.com/my-passion.html

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