Healthy eating is a vital part of good health. This document gives some brief tips on increasing the amount of healthy food we eat, and how to avoid unhealthy food.
1. Maintain a balanced food intake
* Follow the healthy eating principles and avoid eating too much food in one single meal. Leftovers can be packed home.
* Enjoy plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Surveys show most Americans don't eat enough of these foods. Do you eat 6-11 servings from the bread, rice, cereal and pasta group, 3 of which should be whole grains? Do you eat 2-4 servings of fruit and 3-5 servings of vegetables? If you don't enjoy some of these at first, give them another chance. Look through cookbooks for tasty ways to prepare unfamiliar foods.
* Trim off visible fat from meat and remove the skin of poultry before eating.
2. Avoid sauce and gravy
* Avoid oily sauces like coconut sauce, cream sauce, curry sauce, and salad dressing in order to cut down on the intake of fat.
* Choose sauces and dressings of lower fat content, such as tomato sauce and low-fat salad dressing.
3. Pace oneself slowly when eating
* Eating too fast not only increases the chance of choking and stomach discomfort, but can also lead to overeating.
* Eat regular meals. Skipping meals can lead to out-of-control hunger, often resulting in overeating. When you're very hungry, it's also tempting to forget about good nutrition. Snacking between meals can help curb hunger, but don't eat so much that your snack becomes an entire meal.
4. Turn down unhealthy food
* When offered with high-caloric, high-fat, or salty foods, try to turn them down politely.
5. Maintain a healthy weight.
* The weight that's right for you depends on many factors including your sex, height, age and heredity. Excess body fat increases your chances for high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, some types of cancer and other illnesses. But being too thin can increase your risk for osteoporosis, menstrual irregularities and other health problems. If you're constantly losing and regaining weight, a registered dietitian can help you develop sensible eating habits for successful weight management. Regular exercise is also important to maintaining a healthy weight.
Tips for eating
