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 Healthy
Eating Club's Healthy Eating Tips
| 1. |
Include
at least 1-2 varied fresh / tinned fish
meals per week.
Around 2 serves a week
is great and will help protect you from
heart disease and possibly cancer. Having
more doesn't seem to be better for your
health and 2 serves a week leaves room
in your diet for other meats and meat
alternatives and helps protect our fish
stocks. |
| 2. |
Include
several varied lean red meat meals per
week. Vegetarians need to eat legumes
and/or nuts daily.
Around 3 serves a week
is fine, however, having more than this
weekly frequency has not been conclusively
associated with any adverse health effects.
HEC nutrition experts recommend 3 serves
a week so that you leave space in your
diet for other meats and meat alternatives
and also on the grounds of environmental
sustainability. Having less may increase
your risk of having an inadequate intake
of iron and zinc, especially if you
do not eat nuts, legumes, eggs, fish,
chicken on days when you do not eat
red meat. Also, remember that 1 serve
of red meat or meat alternative (eggs,
nuts, legumes, fish, pork/chicken) is
recommended daily in one's diet. |
| 3. |
Include
lean poultry or pork weekly.
Around 2 serves a week
is fine, however, having more than this
weekly frequency has not been associated
so far with any adverse health effects.
This recommendation is based on the
frequency of intake of long-lived populations
in the Mediterranean in the 1960s. HEC
nutrition experts also recommend 2 serves
a week so that you leave space in your
diet for other meats and meat alternatives
and also on the grounds of environmental
sustainability. Having less than this
is also OK. |
| 4. |
Include
at least one legume meal per week e.g
tofu, baked beans.
Around 3 serves a week
is great. This recommendation is based
on the frequency of intake of long-lived
populations in the Mediterranean and
in Asia. More than this weekly frequency
is recommended for vegetarians or for
people who avoid red meat or for people
trying to reduce their cholesterol level.
Legumes/soy are a 'meat alternative'
- this means that when you have, for
example, baked beans on toast, it counts
as a 'serving of red meat'. |
| 5. |
Include
a handful of a variety of nuts/seeds
several times a week.
A handful of a variety
of nuts 2 to 5 times a week lowers your
risk of heart disease. If you are worried
about your weight, combining nuts/seeds
with low calorie foods (e.g. vegetables/
salads) in meals is a good way to eat
them. Having more than this weekly frequency
is recommended for vegetarians or for
people who avoid red meat. Instead of
having that biscuit or piece of cake,
try a handful of plain unroasted and
unsalted nuts (nuts are sometimes roasted
in saturated fat). Remember nuts are
a good substitute for meat (meat alternative),
so a vegetable meal with nuts counts
as a 'serving of red meat'. |
| 6. |
Include eggs weekly.
Around 4 small eggs per
week is great, however, if you have
a cholesterol level less than 5mmol/l
and if you have a low intake of animal
fats you can have 1-2 eggs daily if
you wish. If your cholesterol level
is >7mmol/l or if you have diabetes
or other heart disease risk factors
(like hypertension or smoking) it is
advisable to limit intake to 1-2 a week.
Also, remember that eggs are a 'meat
alternative' - this means that when
you have an egg meal it counts as a
'serving of red meat' - which is great
news for vegetarians. |
| 7. |
Include several cups of a variety
of vegetables daily. Include dark green
leafy types, a variety of deep coloured
vegetables across the week and garlic,
onions and herbs in meals daily. |
| 8. |
Use
cooking methods that minimise the risk
of cancer by adding herbs, spices, fruits,
vinegar. |
| 9. |
Include
reduced fat milk products daily.
About
2 serves a day is great, especially
if reduced in fat. However, more is
OK, especially if you are female and
under 30 or over 50 or post-menopausal.
Try to include a variety of dairy products,
especially fermented products, like
yoghurt, since the bacteria they contain
provide extra health benefits. Also,
include some calcium fortified soy drinks,
especially if you have a high cholesterol
level or if you going through the menopause.
Try to limit intake of fatty cheese
(>20% fat) to 3 serves a week in
order to keep intake of saturated fat
low. Fatty cheese is also high in calories
so may not be helpful if trying to lose
weight. If you're not worried about
the calories, having more than three
serves a week is acceptable if your
intake of other fatty foods is low. |
| 10. |
Have
at least two different pieces of fruit
daily.
Try to have a couple
of serves daily. If you have more than
this - that's good. Whole fruit (whether
fresh, canned or dried) is preferable
to juice because it is higher in fibre
and nutrients; it tends to be more filling
and has less of an impact on blood sugar
levels (which is desirable especially
if you have diabetes). However, it is
better to have some fruit juice than
no fruit at all - 2 small glasses of
100% pure juice daily is fine. Fruit
juice drinks/cordials are not counted
as a fruit serve. |
| 11. |
Try
to make most of your cereal serves whole
grain and reduced in salt. Bread
is a major source of salt in our diet.
About 5 serves a day
is fine; if you are physically active
then you can eat more; if you are trying
to lose weight you may wish to have
3-4 serves a day, but it is best not
to eliminate this group because you
need some carbohydrate to metabolise
and oxidise dietary and body fat. Eat
a variety of breads/cereals and include
some that are wholegrain, like wholemeal
wholegrain bread and rolled oats. Try
to consume breads/cereals with a low
glycaemic index (GI) such as grainy/seedy
bread (e.g Burgen soy linseed, Taylors
bread), basmati/doongara rice, breakfast
cereals with bran/hi-maize/oats (e.g
hi-bran soy linseed weetbix) (see
GI table). Low GI foods may help
you lose weight and may help you control
blood sugar levels, which is important
if you have glucose intolerance (the
condition between health and diabetes)
or diabetes. |
| 12. |
It is OK to sprinkle a little iodized
salt on healthy foods to improve their
flavour. |
| 13. |
It
is OK to sprinkle a little sugar on
healthy foods to improve their flavour;
prefer foods with naturally occurring
sugars over those high in added sugar. |
| 14. |
Have
plentiful fluids using water and tea.
About 6-8 cups of water
daily is great; more is fine, especially
if you are physically active or if you
sweat a lot. Some of this water can
be consumed as tea, coffee or cocoa
beverages - all of which are high in
antioxidants. About 4-6 cups of tea/coffee
a day is OK if you are not sensitive
to caffeine (can raise blood pressure).
Softdrinks/cordials/ energy drinks should
be kept to a minimum if consumed. |
| 15. |
Minimise
'hidden fats' by choosing lean meats,
reduced fat milk products and processed
foods. |
| 16. |
Prefer
unrefined natural fat found in nuts,
seeds, fish, soy, olives and avocado
(because the fat is accompanied
by other desirable nutrients). |
| 17. |
Reserve
added fats (preferably cold pressed
monounsaturated oils) for cooking to
improve the palatability of vegetables,
legumes & fish dishes.
About 1-2 tablespoons
of oil/margarine a day is fine as long
as you keep other 'hidden' fats to a
minimum. This can be achieved by consuming
lean meats, reduced fat dairy products
and by keeping to a minimum fatty fast
food (like pies) , snack foods (like
potato crisps) and treats (like cakes
and biscuits). If you are not trying
to lose weight or if you are physically
active you can have more than 2 tablespoons
a day. If you are trying to lose weight
there is no need to eliminate fat from
your diet (some fat is needed for essential
fatty acids) - about 1-2 tablespoons
a day is fine. Rather than having the
recommended amount with bread, reserve
your couple of tablespoons of oil for
your meals to improve the palatability
of vegetables, fish and legumes. Fat
can also help improve the absorption
of antioxidants from the vegetables.
Use a variety of margarines and oils,
especially ones high in monounsaturated
fat, omega 3 fats and antioxidants -
such as canola, extra virgin olive oil,
peanut oil and coconut milk/cream. |
For more information downlaod the HEC
brochure or see our on-line modules
on "Healthy
Eating Tips" and
"Food
Variety"
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