Healthy Eating
Health Tools help you make wise decisions and take action to improve your health.
Follow the Food Pyramid
If
you look closely at how you eat, you might find you aren't getting enough nutrients because you don't
get the recommended number of servings from each food group.
Are You Getting Your Five-a-Day?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that most adults eat about five cups
of fruits
and veggies every day.
Go to www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov to calculate your body’s needs based on age, sex, and activity level.
Healthy eating means choosing a variety of foods from the basic food
groups: meat and meat substitutes; dairy; fruits and vegetables; grains, such as breads and pasta; and
a limited amount of fats and sweets.
Healthy eating is important for many reasons:
- Healthy foods supply nutrients your body needs to give you energy, and to keep your heart beating, your brain active, and your muscles working. They also help build and strengthen bones, muscles, and tendons and help regulate body processes, such as blood pressure.
- Healthy foods can help you prevent and treat disease. Eating more fruits and vegetables may lower your risk of lung, oral, esophageal, stomach, and colon cancer. Eating less saturated fat may also lower your risk for cancer and heart disease.
- Healthy foods can help you manage chronic diseases like diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure (hypertension).
Eating healthier doesn’t mean you need to go on a restrictive diet. It means making changes that you
can stay with over time and consistently eating foods that are low in saturated fats and trans fats and
that include whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats (such as olive oil) will lower your risk
for disease. Learn more…
Other Resources
- Nutrition.gov (United States Department of Agriculture)
- MyPyrmaid
