Healthy Eating
A healthy balanced diet is important to maintain good health and can help you feel your best. It also protects you against many
chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
You should try to
eat:
- · At
least 5 portions of a variety of fruits and vegs
- · High
fibre starchy foods like potatoes, bread, rice and pasta
- · Eat
beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other protein
- ·
Unsaturated
oils and spreads
- · Plenty of fluids
Understanding
calories
When we eat and drink more calories than we use up, our
bodies store the excess as body fat and may put on weight if we continue. An
average man needs around 2,500 kcal a day to maintain a healthy body weight. An
average woman needs around 2,000 kcal a day to maintain a healthy body weight.
These values depend on age, size and levels of physical activity, among other
factors.
Water
The Eatwell Guide recommends
that people should aim to drink 6 to 8 cups or glasses of fluid a day. Water,
lower-fat milk and sugar-free drinks, including tea and coffee, all count.
Children
The best drinks to
give children are water and milk. Children should drink whole milk until
they're 2 years old. Children should avoid sugary fizzy drinks, squash and
juice drinks completely. Children who drink a lot of sugary drinks are more
likely to become overweight. The added sugar in these drinks can also damage
teeth.
Please visit these NHS websites for more information or if you would like to talk to a nurse or doctor about your worries, do not hesitate to contact PMCF reception to book through.
