Staying Active and Eating Healthy

* Developing Healthy Eating Habits
* Using Nutrition Facts Labels
* Good Eating Habits
* Know Your Fats
* Steps to Heart-Healthy Eating
* Additional Information on Eating Healthy

It isn't hard to make simple changes to improve your eating habits. And you can make sense of the mounds of nutrition information out there. A little learning and planning can help you prepare food that tastes good and is good for you!
Developing Healthy Eating Habits

If you are serious about eating healthy, you should become more educated about the foods you eat and the number of calories and amounts of nutrients they contain. Try to eat foods low in:

* calories
* saturated fats
* trans fats
* cholesterol
* salt (sodium)
* added sugar or caloric sweeteners (such as corn syrup, glucose, fructose, maple syrup, or honey)

Using Nutrition Facts Labels


Nutrition Facts label

How to Read a Food Label


To help consumers plan a healthy diet, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has created the Nutrition Facts label. This label is required on the packages of most prepared foods, such as breads, cereals, canned and frozen foods, snacks, desserts, and drinks. The label states how many calories and how much saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, dietary fiber, and other nutrients are contained in each serving. Serving sizes are based on amounts commonly consumed and are standardized for similar kinds of food so that the nutritional value of these products may be compared.

The Nutrition Facts label shows the % (percentage) Daily Value of various nutrients that are provided in one serving of the food. The % (percentage) Daily Values are based on a daily diet of 2,000 calories (a calorie being a unit of energy-producing potential in food). You may need more or less than 2,000 calories per day, but the % (percentage) Daily Value still provides a general idea of whether a food is low or high in a particular nutrient—5 percent or less is low, 20 percent or more is high.

Use the Nutrition Facts labels on food packages to limit the amount of total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, and sodium and the number of calories you consume. You can also use the label to increase your intake of nutrients that promote good health, such as dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

No food is inherently "bad;" it is the total diet that counts. If your diet is generally low in fat (especially saturated and trans fat) and sugar and you are getting enough vitamins and minerals, you may occasionally indulge in a rich dessert or serving of fried food. If, on the other hand, you eat a lot of high-calorie foods, you are likely to quickly get your total calories for the day without getting enough vital nutrients.
Good Eating Habits

Experts suggest these good eating habits:

* Fruits and Vegetables: Choose a variety of fruits and vegetables every day. In particular, select from all five vegetable subgroups several times a week. The five vegetable subgroups are dark green (broccoli, spinach, most greens); orange (carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash, pumpkin); legumes (dry beans, chickpeas, tofu); starchy (corn, white potatoes, green peas); and other (tomatoes, cabbage, celery, cucumber, lettuce, onions, peppers, green beans, cauliflower, mushrooms, summer squash).
* Whole-grain products: Grain products include bread, pasta, and breakfast cereals. At least half of the grain products that you eat every day should be made from whole grains. "Whole-grain" means that the entire grain kernel was used in making the product. Examples of whole-grain include whole-wheat flour, bulgur (cracked wheat), oatmeal, and brown rice. In contrast, refined grains have been milled, a process that removes much of the grain kernel. This is done to give grains a finer texture and improve their shelf life, but it also removes dietary fiber, iron, and many B vitamins. Some examples of refined grain products are white flour, white bread, and white rice. Most refined grains are enriched, which means that some B vitamins and iron are added back after processing. Fiber is not added back to enriched grains.
* Fats: Eat fewer foods high in saturated fats, trans fats, and cholesterol. Prepare foods that are baked, broiled, or steamed, rather than fried. Choose fish, nuts, and seeds, which contain healthy oils, rather than meat and poultry. When you do eat meat or poultry, choose pieces that are lean or low-fat. Drink milk that is low-fat or fat-free.
* Salt: Consume less than 2,300 milligrams (about 1 tsp) of salt (sodium) per day. Most Americans consume more than double that amount, due in large part to eating a lot of processed foods.
* Potassium: Consume potassium-rich foods, such as fruits and vegetables.
* Desserts: Eat fruit as a dessert on most days. Eat less ice cream, cake, and other high-calorie foods.
* Snacks: Healthy snacks include dried fruit, whole-grain crackers, and low-fat or fat-free yogurt.
* Fast Food: Some fast food restaurants have added healthy choices, such as salads, to their menus. Choose these foods, rather than the other items on their menus, which tend to be high in saturated and trans fats, calories, and added sugars.
* Alcohol: Drink at most one alcoholic drink per day (two drinks per day for men).

Know Your Fats

There are different kinds of fats in food. Some can harm your health, while others aren't so bad. Some are even good for you! Here's what you need to know:

* Monounsaturated fats (canola, olive, and peanut oils; avocados) and polyunsaturated fats (safflower, sesame, and sunflower oils; many nuts and seeds) don't raise your LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels but can raise your HDL ("good") cholesterol levels. To keep healthy, it is best to choose foods with these fats.
* Saturated fat and dietary cholesterol raise your LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels, which can lead to heart disease. Saturated fat is found mostly in food from animals, such as beef, veal, lamb, pork, lard, poultry fat, butter, cream, and whole milk products. It is also found in tropical plant oils, such as coconut and palm oils. These oils are often found in commercial cakes, cookies, and salty snack foods. Some processed foods, such as frozen dinners and canned foods, can be quite high in saturated fat. The cholesterol that you eat comes from animal products, such as meats, poultry, fish, eggs, butter, cheese, and whole milk. Food from plants—such as fruits, vegetables, and grain products—doesn't have cholesterol.
* Trans fats are formed during the process of making certain cooking oils, stick margarine, and shortening. These fats are often found in commercially fried foods, baked goods, cookies, crackers, and processed foods. Some are naturally found in small amounts in some animal products, such as beef, pork, lamb, and butter. Trans fats tend to raise total blood cholesterol. They also tend to raise LDL ("bad") cholesterol and lower HDL ("good") cholesterol. One study found that the four main sources of trans fats in women's diets are stick margarine, meat (beef, pork, or lamb), cookies, and white bread.

To stay healthy, you should keep your total fat intake between 20 and 35 percent of your total daily calories. Most of these fats should come from sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, such as fish, nuts, and vegetable oils. Less than 10 percent of your fat intake should come from saturated fats. You should keep your trans fat consumption as low as possible.
Steps to Heart-Healthy Eating

Heart disease is the #1 killer of both women and men. Eating a healthy diet is key to preventing the development of heart disease risk factors, such as high blood pressure (hypertension), high blood cholesterol, and being overweight or obese. It also will help you control these conditions if you already have them.

Recently, studies have shown that blood pressure can be lowered by following a particular diet—called the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan—and lowering your intake of sodium. While both the DASH diet and reducing sodium intake each lowers blood pressure on their own, the combination of both provides the greatest benefit in reducing high blood pressure.