Healthy Eating
Hmmm... healthy eating, it's a tricky one. The last thing we want to do is prescribe a set of rules to base your eating around. Food is more than fuel, it's a cultural thing and is for enjoying. After all, there's nothing more pleasant than breaking bread with family and friends.
The aim of this section is to arm you with the necessary information to know what makes a 'healthy balanced diet' so that you can enjoy your food knowing that you're getting all the nutrients you need. The reasons for doing this are simple: eat well and you will have more energy, sleep better, look better, get ill less often.
The best way to start is to make as much of the food you eat as possible from scratch. Processed food is not only expensive, but tends to contain very high levels of salt, fat and sugar as well as all sorts of hidden nasties. For help on getting to grips with some basic recipes, click here.
Below are the Food Standard Agency's 8 tips for eating well. They focus on practical steps you can take to make healthier choices, whether you're planning a meal, or picking up a snack. And we think they're a really useful place to start.
Eat the Rainbow!
We all know it's important to get the recommended 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day, and to help you tick them off remember that fruit juice counts as one portion only (pure fruit juice, not juice drink) as do beans and pulses. And sadly potatoes do not count towards your tally. Try to eat a variety of fruit and vegetables to get the most benefit, as this way you consume a greater variety of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and fibre. We like to think of it as eating the rainbow, eat as many different colours as you can!What is a portion?
It can be useful to think of a portion of (raw) fruit and vegetables as fitting into one of your (cupped) hands. Click here for lots more info and tips on getting your 5-a-day from the NHS.Links
www.nutrition.org.ukwww.eatwell.gov.uk
