A good diet comprises many healthy foods. These foods provide you with carbohydrates,
proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals needed for good health.
Much of what you eat should be made up of carbohydrates found in bread, cereal, rice, pasta,
fruits, vegetables and milk. They should make up 50 percent to 60 percent of your calories. Your
brain and muscles need them to work well.
Protein should make up 10 percent to 15 percent of your daily calories. Protein is found in meat,
poultry, fish, eggs, milk and milk products, such as yogurt and cheese. Every cell in your body
has some protein, which helps form skin and bones. It also helps in the healing of sores and helps
your body fight infection.
Fat is very high in calories with twice as many calories as carbohydrates and protein. The
average American eats about 40 percent to 50 percent of their calories in the form of fat, but it’s
better to limit this to 30 percent or less. Fats help vitamins work and help in making hormones,
which control a lot of how the body works. You don’t need to add fat to your diet to be healthy
because you get a lot from animal products, oils and some processed foods. Many people should
eat fewer fats because this can lead to gaining unneeded weight.
Fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat proteins have a lot of vitamins and minerals and
help change carbohydrates, proteins and fats into nutrients we can use. These nutrients help
create bone, blood, enzymes and hormones and help fi ght infection and disease. The best way
to get what we need is to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, milk and lean meats. A
vitamin-mineral pill cannot replace many of the nutrients found in healthy foods.
Many news stories have been written about fiber in diets. Fiber, also called roughage or bulk,
is found in plants. Because your body cannot break down fiber, it passes through your digestive
tract (bowel), absorbing fluids and adding bulk to the foods your body has broken down. By
adding weight and volume, it moves digested foods through the bowel faster and with less work.
Most experts say we should eat 25 to 35 grams of fi ber a day. Because fiber pulls fluid from your
body to the digestive tract, it’s important that you drink a lot of fluids. Foods high in fiber include
fruits, vegetables, whole grain breads and cereals, nuts and seeds. To reach the goal of 25 to 35
grams of fiber, you must eat at least five helpings of fruits and vegetables and a helping of whole
wheat bread, cereal or pasta each day.