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| THE HEALTHY DIET |
| For a healthy diet, you need to eat a wide variety of foods in moderate-sized portions that give your body the nutrients and energy that it needs. You need to limit foods in your diet that can be harmful to your body. |
| Some foods contain very little nutritional value, or have ingredients that can cause disease. Eating healthy does not mean giving up all sweets, salt, and snacks. It means eating such foods in moderation. The foods and food ingredients you need to limit include fat, cholesterol, sodium, alcohol, and sugar. |
| Eating foods high in cholesterol and saturated fat can cause artherosclerosis (narrowing of the blood vessels from buildup of fatty deposits). This is critical for everyone, but especially important if you have a family history of high cholesterol levels or diabetes. Atherosclerosis can lead to heart disease and strokes. Cholesterol is a substance found in animal products such a s meat, eggs, dairy products, and baked goods made with eggs and milk. Vegetables do not contain cholesterol. |
| Of the various types of fats, saturated fats are the least healthy. They tend to increase the level of cholesterol in your blood. In fact, the amount of saturated fat in food is at least as important as the amount of cholesterol. Foods labeled "No Cholesterol" sometimes contain high saturated fat. Saturated fats are generally solid at room temperature. Foods that contain saturated fat include butter, cheese, margarine, shortening, tropical oils such as coconut and palm oil, and the fats in meat and poultry skin. |
| To reduce the amount of saturated fat in your diet, limit the amount of butter and margarine you eat. Drink non-fat or low-fat milk. Choose lean cuts of meat, and take the skin off poultry before you eat it. If you use cooking oil, avoid tropical oils such as palm or coconut oil, as well as peanut oil. Better choices of oils are sunflower, canola, soy, or olive oil. |
| Sodium, one of the ingredients in table salt, can contribute to high blood pressure if eaten in excess. Sodium is found in many foods, not just in table salt. Fast foods usually contain high amounts of sodium. An average healthy person should have no more than 2400 mg (milligrams) of sodium per day and no less than 500 mg per day. Check food labels for sodium content. Here are some common examples: |
| FOOD | APPROXIMATE MG OF SODIUM |
| Big Mac or Whopper | 1000 mg |
| Bread - 2 slices | 200 - 600 mg |
| Cheddar Cheese - 1.5 ounces | 300 mg |
| Fruit - 1 serving | 2 to 5 mg |
| Milk - 1 cup | 120 mg |
| 1 Teaspoon Salt | 2100 mg |
| On food labels, "low sodium" means each serving contains less than 140 mg of sodium. "Moderate sodium" is 140 to 400 mg per serving. "high sodium" is more than 400 mg of sodium per serving. |
| Excess alcohol consumption can lead to weight gain, liver disease, brain damage, and other disorders. Women should have no more than one alcoholic drink per day, and men should limit themselves to two drinks per day. An alcoholic drink equals about 5 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer, or 1 ounce of distilled spirits. Sugar and foods that contain a lot of sugar supply a large number of calories, but very little nutrition. Sugar also causes tooth decay. |
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