Healthy Eating Guide: The Missing Manual every Body should Come With.

Healthy eating  is easy.

Eat enough, but not too much. The average recommended daily calorie allowance for an adult is 2,000 calories, but this depends on many factors, to the extent that any average figure is nonsensical when applied to a particular case. Basically, the more active you are, the more you should eat.

Eat a variety of foods, to make sure you get all the different nutrients your body needs. And never miss breakfast; it gives us the energy we need to face the day. Some people skip it because they think it helps them lose weight. But missing meals doesn’t help, and you can miss out on essential nutrients. Being half starved isn’t the same as being slim and healthy.

Eat sensibly sized portions. Lately, serving sizes have grown, especially in fast food restaurants. Split a portion with a friend. Don’t supersize anything.

Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes, all high in complex carbohydrates, fibre, vitamins and minerals, low in fat, and cholesterol free. Eat at least five portions of various fruits and vegetables every day for maximum health benefits.

Eat more fish, including a portion of oily fish each week. It’s an excellent source of protein and contains many vitamins and minerals. You can choose from fresh, frozen or canned, but remember that canned and smoked fish are high in salt. Oily fish are rich in certain fats, called omega 3 fatty acids, which help keep our hearts healthy. They include mackerel, salmon, pilchards, and sardines. While most of us should eat more oily fish, women who intend to have a baby one day should eat no more than two portions of oily fish a week. Four is the recommended maximum number of portions for other adults.

Drink more water. Our bodies are about 75% water, and it’s a vital part of a healthy diet. Water helps flush our systems of waste products and toxins. Many people go through life dehydrated. When it’s warm, or when we get active, our bodies need more water. Avoid soft drinks, which contain a lot of sugar.

Cut down on alcohol consumption. There is nothing wrong with an occasional night out. But drinking too much alcohol causes health problems. Alcohol is also high in calories, so cutting down helps control your weight. Women can drink two to three units a day and men three to four units a day, without risk to their health. A unit is half a pint of standard strength beer, lager or cider, or a pub measure of spirit. A glass of wine is about two units and alcopops about one and a half. To stay healthy, don’t binge. Heavy drinking damages the liver.

Limit sugary foods, salt, and refined-grain products. Sugar is added to many processed foods. Sugary foods and drinks cause tooth decay, especially if you have them between meals. They’re also high in calories, so cutting down helps you control your weight. How do you know if a food contains a lot of sugar? Check the label. The ingredients list always starts with the biggest ingredient first. Watch out for other words used to describe sugar, such as sucrose, glucose, fructose, maltose, hydrolysed starch and invert sugar, corn syrup and honey. If you see one of these near the top of the list, you know the food is full of added sugar. High is more than 15g sugars per 100g

Watch the fat. To stay healthy we need fat in our diets. What matters is the kind of fat we eat. There are two main types:

Saturated fat – too much of which increases the amount of cholesterol in the blood, which raises the chance of developing heart disease.

Unsaturated fat - eating unsaturated fat instead of saturated fat lowers blood cholesterol.

Cut down on saturated fat and replace with foods that are rich in unsaturated fat, such as vegetable oils, oily fish, avocados, nuts and seeds. Eat these less often or in small amounts:

• Meat pies, sausages, meat with visible white fat
• Hard cheese
• Butter and lard
• Pastry
• Cakes and biscuits
• Cream, soured cream and crème fraîche
• Coconut oil, coconut cream or palm oil

With meat, choose lean cuts and cut off any visible fat. How do you know if a food is high in fat? Look at the label. High is more than 20g fat per 100g.

Adults should eat no more than six grammes of salt a day. Children should eat less. Most of the salt we eat is already in the food we buy, like breakfast cereals, soups, sauces and ready meals. You can easily eat too much salt without realising it. This can raise your blood pressure, and people with high blood pressure are three times more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke than people with normal blood pressure. Always check the label. High is more than 1.5g salt or 0.6g sodium per 100g.

Don’t be a food nazi. You can enjoy your favorite sweets and fried foods in moderation, as long as they are an occasional part of your healthy diet. Food is a great source of pleasure.

A healthy diet improves your energy and feelings of well-being while reducing your risk of many diseases. Adding regular physical activity and exercise will make any healthy eating plan work even better. Get active every day and build up the amount you do. Fit in as much walking as you can into your daily routine.

An apple a day