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- Experts agree the key to healthy eating is the time-tested advice of balance, variety and moderation. In short, that means eating a wide variety of foods without getting too many claories or too much of any one nutrient. These 10 tips can help you follow that advice while still enjoying the foods you eat.
10 Tips To Healthy Eating
- Eat a variety of nutrient-rich foods. You need more than 40 different nurtients for good health, and no single food supplies them all. Your daily food selecton should include bread and other whole-grain product; fruits; vegetables; dairy products; and meat, poultry, fish and other protein foods.
- Enjoy plenty of whoe grains, fruits and vegetables. Surveys show most Americans donn't eat enough of these foods. Look through cookbooks for tasty ways to prepare unfamiliar foods.
- Maintain a healthy weight. The weight that's right for you depends on many factors including your sex, height, age and heredity. Excess body fat increases your chances for high blood pressure, heart disesase, stroke, diabetes, some types of cancer and other illnesses.
- Eat moderate portions. If you keep portion sizes reasonable, it's easier to eat the foods you want and stay healthy.
- Eat regular meals. Skipping meals can lead to out-of-control hunger, oftern resulting in overeating. When you're very hungry, it's also tempting to forget about good nutrition. Snacking between meals can help curb hunger, but don't eat so much taht your snack becomes and entire meal.
- Reduce, don't eliminate certain foods. Most people eat for pleasure as well as nutrition. If your favorite foods are high in fat, salt or sugar, the key is modereating how much of these foods you eat and how often you eat them.
- Balance your food choices over time. Not every food has to be "perfect." When eating a food high in fat, salt or sugar, select other foods that are low in these ingredients.
- Know you diet pitfalls. To improve your eating habits, you first have to know what's wrong with them. Write down everything you eat for three days. Then check your list according to the rest of these tips.
- Make changes gradually. Justas there a no "superfoods" or easy answers to a healthy diet, don't expect to totally revamp your eating havits overnight. Changing too much, too fast can get in the way of success.
- Remember, foods are not good or bad. Select foods based on your total eating patterns, not whether any individual food is "good" or "bad." Don't feel guilty if you love foods such as apple pie, potato chips, candy bars or ice cream. Eat them in moderation, and choose other foods to provide the balance and variety that are vital to good health.
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