ABOUT HEALTHY FOOD
A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy.
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) makes the following five recommendations with respect to both populations and individuals:[7]
1.Maintain a healthy weight by eating roughly the same number of calories that your body is using.
2.Limit intake of fats to no more than 30% of total caloric intake, preferring unsaturated fats to saturated fats. Avoid trans fats.
3.Eat at least 400 grams of fruits and vegetables per day (not counting potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, and other starchy roots). A healthy diet also contains legumes (e.g. lentils, beans), whole grains, and nuts.[8]
4.Limit the intake of simple sugars to less than 10% of caloric intake (below 5% of calories or 25 grams may be even better).[9]
5.Limit salt/sodium from all sources and ensure that salt is iodized. Less than 5 grams of salt per day can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
1. Water
Drink 8 to 12 cups of water daily.
2. Dark Green Vegetables
Eat dark green vegetables at least three to four times a week. Good options include broccoli, peppers, brussel sprouts and leafy greens like kale and spinach.
3. Whole Grains
Eat whole grains sat least two or three times daily. Look for whole wheat flour, rye, oatmeal, barley, amaranth, quinoa or a multigrain. A good source of fiber has 3 to 4 grams of fiber per serving. A great source has 5 or more grams of fiber per serving.
4. Beans and Lentils
Try to eat a bean-based meal at least once a week. Try to add legumes, including beans and lentils, to soups, stews, casseroles, salads and dips or eat them plain.
5. Fish
Try to eat two to three serving of fish a week. A serving consists of 3 to 4 ounces of cooked fish. Good choices are salmon, trout, herring, bluefish, sardines and tuna.
6. Berries
Include two to four servings of fruit in your diet each day. Try to eat berries such as raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries.
7. Winter Squash
Eat butternut and acorn squash as well as other richly pigmented dark orange and green colored vegetables like sweet potato, cantaloupe and mango.
8. Soy
25 grams of soy protein a day is recommended as part of a low-fat diet to help lower cholesterol levels. Try tofu, soy milk, edamame soybeans, tempeh and texturized vegetable protein (TVP).
9. Flaxseed, Nuts and Seeds
Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed or other seeds to food each day or include a moderate amount of nuts – 1/4 cup – in your daily diet.
10. Organic Yogurt
Men and women between 19 and 50 years of age need 1000 milligrams of calcium a day and 1200 milligrams if 50 or older. Eat calcium-rich foods such as nonfat or low-fat dairy products three to four times a day. Include organic choices.
Eat a variety of foods
Healthy eating means eating a wide variety of foods from each of the 5 major food groups, in the amounts recommended.
Eating a variety of foods from the 5 major food groups provides a range of nutrients to the body, promotes good health and can help reduce the risk of disease - as well as keeping your diet interesting with different flavours and textures.
Food Prices
Astronomical food prices over the past few years have affected all of us (the recent egg shortage of 2024, anyone?). According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, food prices in Georgia have steadily increased from 2020 to today. In official government-speak, here’s what the Bureau says:
