These days, nutrition information is everywhere. From diet books to newspaper articles, everyone seems to have an opinion about what you should be eating.
While you already know it's important to eat a healthy diet, you may find it more difficult to sort through all of the information about nutrition and food choices.
Here’s what you need to know:
The food and physical activity choices you make every day affect your health – how you feel today, tomorrow and in the future. The way to do it is:
Eating right and being physically active aren’t just a "diet" or a "program" – they are the keys to a healthy lifestyle. Good habits will help you reduce your risk of many chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and certain cancers, and increase your chances for a longer life.
The best way to give your body the balanced nutrition it needs is by eating a variety of nutrient-packed foods every day but stay within your daily caloric needs.
A healthy eating plan is one that:
Becoming a healthier you isn't just about eating healthy—it's also about physical activity. Regular physical activity is important for your overall health and fitness. It also helps you control body weight by balancing the calories you take in as food with the calories you expend each day.
If you eat 100 more food calories a day than you burn, you'll gain about 1 pound in a month. That's about 10 pounds in a year. The bottom line is that to lose weight, it's important to reduce calories and increase physical activity.
The number of calories that your body needs depends on your age, activity level, and whether you're trying to gain, maintain, or lose weight.* You could use up the entire amount on a few high-calorie items, but chances are you won't get the full range of vitamins and nutrients your body needs to be healthy.
Choose the most nutritionally rich foods you can from each food group each day—those packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other nutrients but lower in calories. Pick foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products more often.
* 2,000 calories is the value used as a general reference on the food label. Calculate your number!
Most packaged foods have a Nutrition Facts label which you can use to make smart food choices quickly and easily. Try these tips:
Check servings and calories. Look at the serving size and how many servings you are actually consuming. If you double the servings you eat, you double the calories and nutrients, including the % DVs.
Make your calories count. Look at the calories on the label and compare them with what nutrients you are also getting to decide whether the food is worth eating. When one serving of a single food item has over 400 calories per serving, it is high in calories.
Don't sugarcoat it. Sugars contribute calories but have few, if any, nutrients, so look for foods and beverages low in added sugars. Read the ingredient list and make sure that added sugars including glucose, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, maple syrup, and fructose are not in the first ingredients.
Know your fats. Look for foods low in saturated fats, trans fats, and cholesterol to help reduce the risk of heart disease (5% DV or less is low, 20% DV or more is high). Most of the fats you eat should be polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. Keep total fat intake between 20% to 35% of calories.
Reduce sodium (salt), increase potassium. Research shows that eating less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium (about 1 tsp of salt) per day may reduce the risk of high blood pressure. Most of the sodium people eat comes from processed foods, not from the saltshaker. Also look for foods high in potassium, which counteracts some of sodium's effects on blood pressure.
Don’t give in when you eat out or are on the go
Make smart food choices and watch portion sizes wherever you are. Try these tips:
Sources:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Dietary Guidelines for Americans
US Department of Health and Human Services
