Healthy Diet: Brief Version

What is ChooseMyPlate?

Using ChooseMyPlate for meal planning can help you have a healthy diet. ChooseMyPlate is a picture of a plate filled with healthy foods in the right portions. It shows half of the plate filled with fruits and vegetables. Split the other half of the plate between starchy foods (like whole-wheat bread, brown rice, or potatoes) and protein foods. A circle next to the plate is a portion of low-fat milk or yogurt.

Using this plate as your guide for each meal makes it easy to get the right amount of each food group every day.

What are healthy food choices?

Your daily diet should include choices from every food group:

• fruits
• vegetables
• whole grains
• low-fat or fat-free milk products
• protein, such as meat, poultry, fish, dried beans, and soy products
• healthy fats found in plant oils, nuts, seeds, and avocado.

How much should I eat?

To keep from eating too much, also pay attention to the calories you eat. Calories are a way to measure the energy value of food. Your body burns calories all day long. It burns fewer calories when you sleep and sit and more calories when you exercise. There is a right number of calories for you to eat each day. This number depends on your age and how active you are. It also depends on if you are trying to gain or lose weight or stay at your current weight. If you want to stay the weight you are now, the number of calories you eat every day should be the same as the number of calories you burn. If you want to lose weight, you need to eat fewer calories and increase your exercise.

Here are some serving suggestions for each food group.

Fruits and vegetables

Eat a variety of fresh, frozen, canned, or dried or dried fruits rather than fruit juice for most of your fruit choices.

Eat a variety of vegetables. Some of the healthiest vegetables are:

• green vegetables, such as broccoli, cabbage, and dark leafy greens
• yellow, orange, and red vegetables, such as peppers, tomatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and squash.

Whole grains

Whole grains are a healthy starch choice. Make sure that half of the grains you eat are whole grains. Whole-grain cereals, breads, crackers, rice, or pasta are good choices. Look for the words "whole grain" or "whole wheat” as some of the first words on the ingredient list of a packaged food.

Milk products

Drink 3 cups of low-fat or fat-free milk each day. Or you might have this much low-fat yogurt or low-fat cheese instead. (1 and 1/2 ounces of cheese equals 1 cup of milk.) If you have problems digesting milk products, ask your healthcare provider what you can eat or drink instead.

Protein

Get protein by eating small amounts of lean meats, poultry, and fish. Bake, broil, or grill instead of frying. Eat 8 to 12 ounces of fish a week. Get some of your protein from other foods, such as beans, peas, egg whites, nuts, and seeds.

You can have a healthy diet without eating meat. If you don’t eat meat, ask your provider how you can be sure to get enough protein, iron, and zinc.

Healthy Fats

You can get healthy fats by adding to your food small amounts of olive, canola, or other vegetable oils. You can also add small amounts of nuts, seeds, avocado, and “trans fat free” margarine. These foods, although good for you, are also high in calories. For most people, a few small portions a day are enough.

What foods are not healthy?

Some foods are not very healthy. Some can even cause disease if you eat them too often. You don't have to give up all sweet, salty, or fatty snacks. You just need to eat less of these foods. It's best not to keep them on hand. Save these foods for a special treat or an occasional snack.

Stay away from foods with cholesterol, saturated fat, and trans 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 fats and trans fats are less healthy than unsaturated fat. Here are a few ideas for eating less cholesterol and less saturated or trans 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.
• Cook with canola oil, olive oil, or soybean oil.
• Use less butter. It is healthier to use margarine that is labeled "no trans fatty acids."
• Eat fewer servings of meat or egg yolks. These foods have cholesterol, which can increase the risk for heart disease.

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 2,300 mg (milligrams) of sodium a day. That's equal to 1 teaspoon of salt. You should have no more than 1500 mg of sodium a day if:
  • You are 51 or older.
  • You have high blood pressure, diabetes or kidney disease.
  • You are African American.
• 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. 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 can give you many calories. They often don't give you what you need to keep healthy.

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 and more fish.
• 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, zinc, and protein in your other foods.

Read the Nutrition Facts Label

Food labels help you know about the calories and nutrition in a serving of food. Learning to read food labels can help you stay away from unhealthy foods. It can also help you choose foods that are good for you. Find the % Daily Value (DV) section on the food label. Use this tool to make choosing healthy foods quick and easy. If a serving of a food provides 5% DV or less of a nutrient, it is low in that nutrient. 20% DV or more is high. Try these tips:

• Keep these saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, and sodium low.
• Get enough potassium, fiber, vitamins A and C, calcium, and iron.

Always look at the serving size listed on the label and think about how many servings you are really eating. If you double the servings you eat, you double the calories and nutrients you are eating, including the % DVs.

How much exercise do I need?

To stay healthy you need to have a healthy diet and enough exercise. Try to exercise at least 30 minutes most days. If you are trying to lose weight or to keep a healthy weight, you may need to increase your total exercise time to 300 minutes (5 hours) or more a week.