Nutrition: Healthy Food Choices
Why is healthy eating important?
When combined with exercise, a healthy diet can help you lose weight, lower your cholesterol level and improve the way your body functions on a daily basis
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Guide Pyramid divides food into 6 basic food groups:
- Grains
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Meats and beans
- Dairy
- Fats
The Food Guide Pyramid offers specific information about how much of your daily diet should come from each of these food groups. It measures servings of grains, and meats and beans in "ounce equivalents." Servings of vegetables, fruits and dairy products are measured in "cup equivalents." The amount you should try to eat from each food group depends on your age, sex and level of physical activity.
What are some easy healthy changes I can make in my diet?
Grains |
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| Instead of this: |
Try this: |
| Croissants, biscuits, and white breads and rolls |
Low-fat whole grain breads and rolls (wheat, rye, pumpernickel) |
| Doughnuts, pastries, scones |
English muffins, small whole grain bagels |
| Fried tortillas |
Soft tortillas (corn or whole wheat), pita bread |
| Sugar cereals and regular granola |
Oatmeal, low-fat granola, whole grain cereal |
| Snack crackers |
Crackers (animal, graham, rye, soda, saltine, oyster) |
| Potato or corn chips, buttered popcorn |
Pretzels (unsalted), popcorn (unbuttered) |
| White pasta |
Whole wheat pasta |
| White rice |
Brown rice |
| Fried rice, or pasta and rice mixes that contain high-fat sauces |
Rice or pasta (without egg yolk) with vegetable sauces |
Fruits and Vegetables |
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| Instead of this: |
Try this: |
| Fried vegetables or vegetables served with cream, cheese or butter sauces |
All vegetables raw, steamed, broiled, baked or tossed with a very small amount of olive oil |
| Coconut |
Fruit (fresh or canned in light syrup) |
| French fries, hash browns, potato chips |
Baked, mashed or boiled potatoes |
Meat, Poultry and Fish |
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| Instead of this: |
Try this: |
| Regular or breaded fish sticks or cakes, fish canned in oil, seafood prepared with butter or served in high-fat sauce |
Fish (fresh, frozen, canned in water), low-fat fish sticks or cakes, shellfish |
| Prime or marbled cuts |
Select grade lean beef (round, sirloin, loin) |
| Pork spare ribs, bacon |
Lean pork (tenderloin, loin chop) |
| Regular ground beef |
Lean or extra lean ground beef, ground chicken or turkey breast |
| Lunch meats such as pepperoni, salami, bologna, liverwurst |
Lean lunch meats such as turkey, chicken and ham |
| Regular hot dogs or sausage |
Fat-free hot dogs |
Dairy |
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| Instead of this: |
Try this: |
| Whole or 2% milk |
Skim or 1% milk |
| Evaporated milk |
Evaporated skim milk |
| Regular buttermilk |
Buttermilk made from skim (or 1%) milk |
| Yogurt made with whole milk |
Nonfat or low-fat yogurt |
| Regular cheese (examples: American, blue, Brie, cheddar, Colby, Parmesan) |
Low-fat cheese with less than 3 grams of fat per serving, including natural cheese, processed cheese, and nondairy cheese such as soy cheese |
| Regular cottage cheese |
Low-fat, nonfat, and dry-curd cottage cheese with less than 2% fat |
| Regular cream cheese |
Low-fat cream cheese (no more than 3 grams of fat per ounce) |
| Regular ice cream |
Sorbet, sherbet, nonfat or low-fat ice cream (no more than 3 grams of fat per 1/2 cup serving) |
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Fats, Oils and Sweets |
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Instead of this: |
Try this: |
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Cookies |
Fig bars, gingersnaps, molasses cookies |
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Shortening, butter or margarine |
Olive, soybean or canola oils |
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Regular mayonnaise |
Nonfat or light mayonnaise |
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Regular salad dressing |
Nonfat or light salad dressing |
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Using fat (including butter) to grease pan |
Nonstick cooking spray |
American Academy of Family Physicians
This article provides a general overview on this topic and may not apply to everyone. To find out if this article applies to you and to get more information on this subject, talk to your family doctor.
Copyright © 2000-2005 American Academy of Family Physicians
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