Following apppropriate dietary guidelines,therefore,is essential
o your well-being.Your dietary guidelines should contain the following seven recommendations about the foods you eat.Think
of them as one integrated pacjage of suggestions to improve your overall general health.Each recommmendation must involve
variety,balance,and moderation in the total diet.
*Eat a variety of foods:The best way to get the energy,protein,carbohydrates,vitamins,minerals,and
fiber you need for good health is to eat a wide variety of nutritious foods.
*Balance the food you eat with physical activity;maintain or improve your
weight:In order to reduce your chances of developing high blood pressure,heart disease,stroke,and diabetes,you should monitor
and control your weight.Successful weight control will promote a positive and healthy lifestyle.
*Choose a diet with plenty of grain products,vegetables,and fruits:Vegetables,fruits,abd
grains provide essential vitamins,minerals,complex carbohydrates,and fiber.These foods are generally low in fat.
*Choose a diet low in fat,saturated fat,and cholesterol:A high-fat and cholesterol
diet will inevitably have serious health implications.If you're serious about reducing your risk of heart disease and certain
types of cancer,take steps to reduce your consumption pf high-fat and high cholesterol foods.
*Choose a diet moderate in salt and sodium:Reducing salt and sodium in your
diet is important in reducing your chance of developing high blood pressure.If you have high blood pressure,limiting your
salt intake can help you control the codition.
*If you drink alcoholic beverages,do so in moderation:Alcoholic beverages
contain few vitamins or minerals,and drinking is linked with many health problems.A heavy drinker is often a malnourished,individual.Limit
the number of drinks to one or two per day.Pregnant woman are advised not to consume any alcohol.
The Food Guide Pyramid
*The first rule for good nutrition is to eat a wide variety of foods.The
Food Guide Pyramid provides you with an easy-to-use visual graphic illustraying the relative amounts of food to eat from each
of the major food groups.A varied diet includes foods from all of the major groups.Choosing different foods from within each
major groups is also important.
*Each of the food groups provides some,but not all,of the nutrients you need.People
need more than 40 different nutrients for good health,including protein,fat,carbohydrates,water,and a number of vitamins and
minerals.
*Food in one group can't replace those in another.
*No one of the major food groups is more important than another.For proper
nutrition and good health,you need them all.
Use the Food Guide Pyramind to help you eat better every day.Remember to
go easy on fats,oils,and sweet-the foods in the small tip of the pyramid.These food contain alot of calories,but little nutrition.
Healthy Weight Maintenance
Successful weight control-the ability to control weight over a long period
of time-is the result of a positive lifestyle rather than simply a specific diet.If you consume more more calories than you
burn,you'll gain weight,andif you consume fewer calories.Metabolism,or the rate at which you process food,is a very
individual thing.The actual computation of calories is seldom exact.
Drastic caloric restriction,which is popular in most fad or crash diets,can
actually make a person heavier because low-calorie diets lower your metabolism and require fewer calories for basic life basic
life functions.People who regularly active muscle tissue.This is one reason excerise should be a part of any long-term weight
control program.
Dietary Modifications
When you can modify your diet,there are several steps you should follow:
* Eat less fat.Because fat has such a high caloric density,it adds up to many
unwanted calories.Learning to indentify high-fat foods helps to reduce a person's calorie intake without drastically reducing
food intake.
* Eat fewer refined sugar products.Because it's so concentrated,refined sugar
contains many calories.Refined sugar is often combined with fat in processed foods.Pastries,for example,are approximately
50 percent sugar.
* Include a approximately 70 percent of natural carbohydeates and a moderate
reduction on caleries in you diet,coupled with an aerobic program that raises you caloric expenditure.
* Lose weight gradually.Rapid weight loss is always a sure indication that the
weight will be gained back.Tissue,water,and muscle account for most of weight lost in cash diets,while fat accounts for most
of the weight gained back.Slow,gradual,lobg-term weight loss is the healthiest way to lose weight.You should lose no more
than one to two pounds a week.The diet and exercise program that promise quick weight loss with with little effort or long
term commitment always fail.The use of pills,crash diets,powered die packages,saubas,and wrapes are all guarantees that the
dieter will gain the weight back over time.
