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Healthy Eating Guide

Healthy Eating
Nutrition Guide

Food is broken down into the following five accepted groups:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

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Nutrition

Bread, cereals and potatoes

Fruit and vegetables
Milk and diary foods
Meat, fish and alternatives
Fatty and sugary foods

To get the wide range of nutrients the body needs to remain healthy it is
important to choose a variety of foods from the first four groups every day.
Foods in the fifth group (fatty and sugary foods) are not essential to a healthy
diet but add extra choice and taste. The proportion of each food group in the
diet is shown by the different area occupied by each of the food groups on the
plate in the diagram below.
This article does not apply to children under the age of five. If you are
receiving medical supervision or with special dietary needs, you should check
with your doctor with regards your dietary requirements.

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Bread,othercerealsandpotatoes

Includes

Other cereals means things like breakfast cereals, pasta, rice,

oats, noodles, maize, millet and cornmeal. Beans and pulses
can be eaten as part of this group.

Nutrients

Carbohydrate (starch), Fibre, some calcium and iron, B

Vitamins

How
much
Try to eat

Try to
avoid

Eat lots
Wholemeal, wholegrain, brown or high fibre versions where
possible
Having them fried too often (e.g. chips)
Adding too much fat (e.g. thickly spread butter, or margarine
on bread)
Adding rich sauces and dressings (e.g. cream or cheese sauce
on pasta)

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Eating Too Much

Fruit&Vegetables

Includes

Fresh, frozen and canned fruit and vegetables and dried fruit. A
glass of fruit juice can also contribute. Beans and pulses can be
eaten as part of this group.

Nutrients

Vitamin C, Carotenes, Folates, Fibre and some carbohydrate

How
much

Eat lots.

Try to eat A wide variety of fruit and vegetables.

Try to
avoid

Adding fat or rich sauces to vegetables (e.g. carrots glazed with

butter, roast parsnips)
Adding sugar or syrupy dressing to fruit (e.g. stewed apple with
sugar)

Milk&dairyfoods
Includes

Milk, cheese, yogurt and fromage frais. This group does not
include butter, eggs and cream.

Nutrients Calcium Protein, Vitamin B12, Vitamins A and D

How
much

Moderate amounts and choose lower fat versions whenever you

can.
Lower fat versions means semi-skimmed or skimmed milk, low
fat (0.1% fat) yogurts or fromage frais, and lower fat cheeses
(e.g. Edam, Half-fat Cheddar, Camembert)

Try to
eat

Check the amount of fat by looking at the nutrient information

on the labels. Compare similar products and choose the lowest.
(e.g. 8% fat fromage frais may be labelled low fat but is not
actually the lowest available)

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Meat,fishandalternatives
Includes

Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, nuts, beans and pulses. Meat includes
bacon and salami and meat products such as sausages, beef
burgers and pate.
These are all relatively high fat choices. Beans, such as canned
baked beans and pulses are in this group.
Fish includes frozen and canned fish such as sardines and tuna,
fish fingers and fish cakes.
Nutrients
How
much

Iron, Protein, B Vitamins - specially B12, Zinc and Magnesium

Eat moderate amounts and choose lower fat versions whenever
you can.
Lower fat versions means meat with the fat cut off, poultry
without the skin and fish without batter.

Try to
eat

Cook these foods without added fat.

Beans and pulses are good alternatives to meat as they are
naturally very low in fat.

Fattyandsugaryfoods

Includes

Margarine, low fat spread, butter, other spreading fats, cooking

oils, oily salad dressings or mayonnaise, cream, chocolate,
crisps, biscuits, pastries, cake, puddings, ice- cream, rich sauces
and fatty gravies, sweets and sugar.

Nutrients

Some vitamins and essential fatty acids but also a lot of fat,
sugar and salt

How
much

Try to
eat

Eat fatty and sugary foods sparingly - that is, infrequently

and/or in small amounts.
Some foods from this group will be eaten every day, but should
be kept to small amounts. (e.g. margarine, low fat spread,
butter, other spreading fats, cooking oils, oily salad dressings or
mayonnaise)
Other foods from this group are occasional foods. (e.g. cream,
chocolate, crisps, biscuits, pastries, cake, puddings, ice-cream,
rich sauces and fatty gravies, sweets and sugar)

Howmuchdoweneed
The amount of calories that we require will vary from one individual to
another but the proportions of food from the different groups should remain
the same.
The factors that affect people's daily energy requirements are:
Gender - women tend to need less calories than men
Age - older adults need less calories than adolescents and young adults
Overweight - being heavier than their ideal weight means less calories is
required to achieve a healthy weight
Physically active - the more active a person is, the greater their calorie
needs

Vitaminandmineralsupplements
You can get all the vitamin and minerals your body requires each day by
having a variety of foods in your diet.
Women who are already or planning to become pregnant may need additional
folic acid and/or iron and elderly people may need extra Vitamin D and/or
iron. Your doctor will be able to advise if you require additional Vitamin and
mineral supplements.

RelatedReferences
The following references provide additional information on this topic:
MAUGHAN, R. (2002) The athletes diet: nutritional goals and dietary
strategies. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 61 (01), p. 87-96
BURKE, L. M. et al. (2001) Guidelines for daily carbohydrate
intake. Sports medicine, 31 (4), p. 267-299
BURKE, L. M. and READ, R. S. (1993) Dietary supplements in
sport. Sports Medicine, 15 (1), p. 43-65

PageReference
If you quote information from this page in your work then the reference for
this page is:
MACKENZIE, B. (2002) Healthy Eating Guide [WWW] Available from:
https://www.brianmac.co.uk/eating.htm [Accessed 25/10/2016]

RelatedPages
The following Sports Coach pages provide additional information on this topic:

Articles on Nutrition
Books on Nutrition
Eating Disorders
Glycaemic Index
Healthy Eating
Nutrition
Nutritional Tips
Sports Drinks

AdditionalSourcesofInformation
For further information on this topic see the following:
BEASHEL, P. and TAYLOR, J. (1996) Advanced Studies in Physical
Education and Sport. UK: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd.
BEASHEL, P. and TAYLOR, J. (1997) The World of Sport Examined. UK:
Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd.
BIZLEY, K. (1994) Examining Physical Education. Oxford; Heinemann
Educational Publishers
DAVIS, B. et al. (2000) Physical Education and the Study of Sport. UK:
Harcourt Publishers Ltd.
GALLIGAN, F. et al. (2000) Advanced PE for Edexcel. Oxford;
Heinemann Educational Publishers
McARDLE, W. et al. (2000) Essentials of Exercise Physiology. 2nd ed.
Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins
BEAN, A. (1993) Sports Nutrition. UK; A and C Black Publishers ltd.

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