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To keep healthy, you need to:

• Eat many kinds of healthy foods
• Eat serving sizes that are not too big or too small.
• Stay away from foods that are not healthy.

What kinds of foods do I need?

Your daily diet should include servings from the 5 food groups. This chart shows you how much you should eat from each group every day.

 
                  Number of      Examples of 
Food Group        Servings      Serving Size 
-------------------------------------------------------
Meat, poultry,     2 to 3       2 to 3 oz of lean meat, 
  fish, dried                   1 egg, 1/2 cup cooked 
  beans, eggs                   beans 

Grains            6 to 11       1 slice of bread, 
                                1/2 cup pasta or rice, 
                                1 oz of cereal 

Fruits             2 to 4       1 fruit, 3/4 cup fruit 
                                juice 

Vegetables         3 to 5       1/2 cup nonleafy 
                                vegetable, 1 cup leafy 
                                vegetable 

Milk, cheese,      2 to 3       1 cup milk or yogurt, 
  yogurt                        1 to 2 oz cheese 
-------------------------------------------------------

You also need to drink water to put back the water that your body loses every day. You lose water when you breathe, go to the bathroom, and sweat. You should drink 6 to 8 glasses of water every day.

What foods are not healthy?

Some foods are not very healthy. Some can even cause disease. You don't have to give up all sweet, salty, or fatty snacks. You just need to eat less of these foods.

Stay away from foods with cholesterol and saturated fat.

Your blood vessels can build up fat and get too narrow. This can increase your risk of having a stroke or heart disease. Saturated fat is less healthy than unsaturated fat. Here are a few ideas for eating less cholesterol and less saturated fat:

• Drink nonfat or low-fat milk instead of whole milk.
• Choose lean cuts of meat.
• Take the skin off poultry before you eat it.
• Use sunflower oil, canola oil, or olive oil to cook with. Don't eat foods containing palm or coconut oil.
• Use less butter.
• Eat fewer servings of meat or eggs. These foods have cholesterol, which can cause heart disease.
• Eat more vegetables. Vegetables have no cholesterol.

This is very important if you have a family history of diabetes, high cholesterol, or heart disease.

Eat foods with less salt (sodium).

• Your body needs some salt to keep healthy. But it can be unhealthy if you use too much. It may make high blood pressure worse.
• Eat no more than 2,400 mg (milligrams) of sodium a day. Read the labels on the food packages you buy. Check how much sodium is in the food.
• Taste food before you add salt to it at the table. Try adding other spices or herbs instead of salt.

Drink little or no alcohol.

When you drink too much alcohol, it can lead to many health problems. You may:

• gain weight
• have liver disease
• have brain damage
• become an alcoholic.

Women should have no more than 1 drink a day. Men should have no more than 2 drinks a day. A drink is 1 small glass of wine, 1 can of beer, or 1 shot of liquor.

Eat fewer foods with sugar.

• Foods that have a lot of sugar give you many calories. They often don't give you what you need to keep healthy.
• Sugar can also cause tooth decay.

Eat less meat.

Eating meat, like poultry and fish, can help you keep healthy. It is an easy way to get iron and protein. But most people in this country get more protein than they need. It's a good idea to eat less meat. You can:

• Choose lean cuts of meat.
• Try to use meat as a side dish. Put meat in a casserole or stew.
• Choose not to eat meat at all. Just make sure you get iron and protein in your other foods.

Tips for Eating Healthy

Choose foods with high fiber, low sugar, and unsaturated fats.

• Eat fresh foods instead of canned foods.
• Eat more whole-grain products, such as shredded-wheat or bran cereals.
• Stay away from prepared foods as much as you can.
• Read the labels on all boxed and canned foods you buy. Some have more fat, sodium, and sugar in them than you expect.

Eat low-fat, low-cholesterol foods.

• Bake or broil food. Don't fry it.
• Don't eat more than 4 egg yolks a week. Egg whites are healthy. Egg yolks are not.
• Eat more fish. Eat less red meat.
• Take off the skin from poultry before you cook or eat it.

Stay away from fast-food restaurants and sweets when you can.

• If you do eat fast food, leave off the bacon and cheese. Stay away from sour cream, mayonnaise, and salad dressings.
• Order broiled items instead of fried items.
• Stay away from empty calories, like sweets, chips, and sodas.

Get plenty of vitamins.

• Have a green, leafy salad at least once a day. Use only a little dressing on your salad. Try nonfat dressings.
• Eat raw or steamed vegetables.
• Cook vegetables just a little.