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Here's how: The food and
physical activity choices you make every day affect your
health—how you feel today, tomorrow, and in the future. The
science-based advice of the Dietary Guidelines for
Americans, 2005 in this booklet highlights how to:
- Make smart choices from
every food group.
- Find your balance
between food and physical activity.
- Get the most nutrition
out of your calories.
You may be eating plenty of
food, but not eating the right foods that give your body the
nutrients you need to be healthy. You may not be getting
enough physical activity to stay fit and burn those extra
calories. This booklet is a starting point for finding your
way to a healthier you.
Eating right and being
physically active aren't just a "diet" or a "program"—they
are keys to a healthy lifestyle. With healthful habits, you
may 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. Just be sure to stay
within your daily calorie needs.
A healthy eating plan is
one that:
- Emphasizes fruits,
vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and
milk products.
- Includes lean meats,
poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts.
- Is low in saturated
fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and
added sugars.
Don't Give In When You Eat Out and Are On The Go
It's important to make
smart food choices and watch portion sizes wherever you
are—at the grocery store, at work, in your favorite
restaurant, or running errands. Try these tips:
- At the store, plan ahead
by buying a variety of nutrient-rich foods for meals and
snacks throughout the week.
- When grabbing lunch,
have a sandwich on whole- grain bread and choose
low-fat/fat-free milk, water, or other drinks without
added sugars.
- In a restaurant, opt for
steamed, grilled, or broiled dishes instead of those that
are fried or sautéed.
- On a long commute or
shopping trip, pack some fresh fruit, cut-up vegetables,
string cheese sticks, or a handful of unsalted nuts—to
help you avoid impulsive, less healthful snack choices.
- Focus on fruits.
Eat a variety of fruits—whether fresh, frozen, canned, or
dried—rather than fruit juice for most of your fruit
choices. For a 2,000-calorie diet, you will need 2 cups of
fruit each day (for example, 1 small banana, 1 large
orange, and 1/4 cup of dried apricots or peaches).
- Vary your veggies.
Eat more dark green veggies, such as broccoli, kale, and
other dark leafy greens; orange veggies, such as carrots,
sweetpotatoes, pumpkin, and winter squash; and beans and
peas, such as pinto beans, kidney beans, black beans,
garbanzo beans, split peas, and lentils.
- Get your calcium-rich
foods. Get 3 cups of low-fat or fat-free milk—or an
equivalent amount of low-fat yogurt and/or low-fat cheese
(1½ ounces of cheese equals 1 cup of milk)—every day. For
kids aged 2 to 8, it's 2 cups of milk. If you don't or
can't consume milk, choose lactose-free milk products
and/or calcium-fortified foods and beverages.
- Make half your grains
whole. Eat at least 3 ounces of whole-grain cereals,
breads, crackers, rice, or pasta every day. One ounce is
about 1 slice of bread, 1 cup of breakfast cereal, or ½
cup of cooked rice or pasta. Look to see that grains such
as wheat, rice, oats, or corn are referred to as "whole"
in the list of ingredients.
- Go lean with protein.
Choose lean meats and poultry. Bake it, broil it, or grill
it. And vary your protein choices—with more fish, beans,
peas, nuts, and seeds.
Know the limits on fats,
salt, and sugars. Read the Nutrition Facts label on
foods. Look for foods low in saturated fats and trans
fats. Choose and prepare foods and beverages with little
salt (sodium) and/or added sugars (caloric sweeteners).
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.
- Be physically active for
at least 30 minutes most days of the week.
- Increasing the intensity
or the amount of time that you are physically active can
have even greater health benefits and may be needed to
control body weight. About 60 minutes a day may be needed
to prevent weight gain.
- Children and teenagers
should be physically active for 60 minutes every day, or
most every day.
Consider This:
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.
Get the most nutrition out
of your calories.
There is a right number of
calories for you to eat each day. This number 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.
Most packaged foods have a
Nutrition Facts label. For a healthier you, use this tool to
make smart food choices quickly and easily. Try these tips:
- Keep these low:
saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, and sodium.
- Get enough of these:
potassium, fiber, vitamins A and C, calcium, and iron.
- Use the % Daily Value (DV)
column when possible: 5% DV or less is low, 20% DV or more
is high.
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.
Since sugars contribute calories with few, if any,
nutrients, look for foods and beverages low in added sugars.
Read the ingredient list and make sure that added sugars are
not one of the first few ingredients. Some names for added
sugars (caloric sweeteners) include sucrose, glucose, high
fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, maple syrup, and fructose.
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.
…use the label.
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Start here
Check calories
Quick guide to % DV
5% or less is low
20% or more is high
Limit these
Get enough of these
Footnote |
Know how to prepare,
handle, and store food safely to keep you and your family
safe:
- Clean hands,
food-contact surfaces, fruits, and vegetables. To avoid
spreading bacteria to other foods, meat and poultry should
not be washed or rinsed.
- Separate raw, cooked,
and ready-to-eat foods while shopping, preparing, or
storing.
- Cook meat, poultry, and
fish to safe internal temperatures to kill microorganisms.
- Chill perishable foods
promptly and thaw foods properly.
If you choose to drink
alcohol, do so in moderation. Moderate drinking means up to
1 drink a day for women and up to 2 drinks for men. Twelve
ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1½ ounces of
80-proof distilled spirits count as a drink for purposes of
explaining moderation. Remember that alcoholic beverages
have calories but are low in nutritional value.
Generally, anything more
than moderate drinking can be harmful to your health. And
some people, or people in certain situations, shouldn't
drink at all. If you have questions or concerns, talk to
your doctor or healthcare provider.
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