Healthy eating is essential for good health.

What you eat can either protect you or increase your chances of getting diseases like heart disease.

The Food Pyramid
The key to healthy eating is to eat a wide variety of foods. Using the Food Pyramid as a guide will help make sure you get all the vitamins, minerals and goodness you need from your food. Choose most foods from the bottom two shelves, smaller amounts from the next two shelves and a very small amount from the top shelf.

Does your diet add up?
Do the foods you eat every day add up to the  Food Pyramid way? Just write down everything you had to eat or drink yesterday. Then add up the number of servings for each shelf and compare them with the plate servings on the Pyramid. How did you do? What changes could you make?

Bottom shelf
Breads, cereals, potatoes, pasta and rice (6 or more servings a day)

These foods are high in energy, but low in fat. It's what you put on bread or the sauce you use with pasta or rice that makes them high in fat. Choose wholegrain and wholemeal varieties of bread, rolls and breakfast cereals. Try leaving the skin on potatoes.

1 Serving =
1 bowl of cereal
1 slice of bread
3 dessertspoons of cooked pasta or rice
1 medium boiled or baked potato

Eat these foods at each meal - high fibre is best.

Fruit and vegetables
(5 or more servings a day)
Fruit and vegetables are almost fat-free, packed with vitamins, minerals and fibre. Overcooking vegetables destroys vitamins. Try steaming, microwaving or boiling vegetables in a little water with the saucepan lid on. Frozen vegetables are just as good as fresh. Try the many ways of enjoying fruit - fresh, dried, stewed, tinned in its own juice or as fruit-juice.

1 Serving =
1 small glass of fruit juice
1 medium sized fresh fruit, e.g. orange, apple, banana
2 small sized fresh fruit, e.g. plums, mandarins, kiwi
3-4 dessertspoons cooked vegetable or salad, including peas and beans
Small bowl of homemade vegetable soup
3 dessertpoons cooked or tinned fruit (not in syrup)

Choose green leafy vegetables and citrus fruit frequently.
Fruit juice only counts for one serving, each day.

Milk, cheese and yoghurt
( 3 servings a day for children and adults and 5 for teenagers or for pregnant or breast-feeding mothers).

These foods are good sources of calcium and vitamin D for strong bones and protein, the building block for all parts of the body. If you are overweight or have high cholesterol, choose low-fat varieties (they have the same amount of calcium as full fat varieties).

1 Serving =
1/3 pint of milk
1 carton of yoghurt
Milk pudding made with 1/3 pint of milk
1oz cheese

Choose low fat varieties.

Meat, poultry, fish and alternatives
(2 servings a day, 3 during pregnancy)

These foods are a good source of protein and iron (for healthy blood) - red meat is the richest source of iron. Choose four ounces (100 grams) of lean red meat, i.e. two servings three to four times a week. Have oily fish such as sardines, mackerel, trout, herring or salmon at least twice a week. They help thin the blood and prevent clotting.

1 Serving =
2oz cooked lean meat or poultry
3oz cooked fish, 2 eggs
9 dessertspoons peas, beans or lentils
2oz cheese
3oz nuts

Choose lean cuts of meat.
Eat oily fish.

The top shelf of the Food Pyramid (very small amounts)

Spreads - Choose a low-fat polyunsaturated or monounsaturated spread and spread it thinly. A rough guide is no more than one ounce of low-fat spread a day (roughly two to three pats). If you don’t like spread, use no more than ½ ounce of butter a day.

Oil - Choose a pure polyunsaturated or monounsaturated oil and use it in small amounts. Oils are 100% fat and they are very high in calories.

Limit fried foods to 1-2 times a week.

Crisps, savoury snacks, biscuits, cakes, sweets and chocolate - These foods are high in saturated fat. Too much saturated fat in the diet increases cholesterol levels. Many savoury snacks are also high in salt, which may cause high blood pressure. They should not replace meals but you can enjoy them as an occasional treat.

Only have small amounts of high fat/sugar snacks and drinks and not too often.

Salt
Too much salt in your diet can increase your blood pressure level. Most of the salt we eat – about 75% - comes from processed foods, fast food, canteen and restaurant food. For practical tips on how to reduce the amount of salt in your diet download our  Time To Cut Down Salt Leaflet

Alcohol - Small amounts of alcohol may provide some protection against heart disease. Drinking large amounts of alcohol can increase blood pressure and may damage the liver and heart.

If you do drink, spread your drinking over the week, keep some days alcohol-free and do not drink more than the recommended upper limits: for men 21 standard drinks a week. For women 14 standard drinks a week.

1 standard drink (10 grams of alcohol)

= one half pint of beer, stout or lager
= one small glass of wine
= one glass of spirits (whiskey, vodka or gin)

Remember that alcohol is a drug and may be a risk for other health problems.

How can I reduce weight?
Follow the general guidelines in this leaflet. Choose less foods from the top shelf of the Food Pyramid. Choose lower-fat foods from the other shelves. Watch the size of your portions. Choose five portions from the fruit and vegetable shelf and six servings from the bottom shelf. Aim for a gradual weight loss of one to two pounds a week. Make small changes that you can keep up for life, not just for a few weeks. For more information on losing weight read our Eat Well, lose weight page and check out our recipe section for ideas of heart healthy low fat recipes.