Eat Smart, Feel Good And Look Great.
Excellent advice courtesy Bernama.
Good health starts at mealtime. Everyday food are full of potent healing ingredients that boost energy, help prevent disease, and make you feel and look better.
Food after all, is body fuel, and adding high energy choices to your diet will keep your 'engine' running at peak performance.
That means, eating breakfast each morning, refueling your body with a meal or snack every four to five hours and choosing the right foods.
What then are the right food for a healthy diet?
To these, Professor Rabindarjeet Singh of School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, said avoid eating fatty food and food containing high sugar content.
HEALTHY DIET
He outlined the basic guidelines for a healthy diet which include:
1. Limit total fat intake.
Fat should supply less than 30 percent of the total daily calories. Choose lean meats, light-meat poultry without the skin, fish, and low-fat dairy products.
In addition, cut back on butter or food made with these as well as on mayonnaise, salad dressings, and fried foods.
2. Limit the intake of saturated fat.
This is the kind of fat, found mostly in animal products, that boosts blood cholesterol levels and has other adverse health effects. It should supply less than one-third of the calories derived from fat.
3. Keep cholesterol intake below 300 milligrams per day.
Cholesterol is found only in animal products, such as meats, poultry, dairy products, and egg yolks.
4. Eat food rich in complex carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates should contribute at least 55 percent of your total daily calories. To help meet this requirement, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and six or more servings of grains (preferably whole grains) or legumes daily.
This will help one obtain the 20 to 30 grams of dietary fibre needed each day, as well as provide important vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals (plant chemicals essential to good health).
5. Avoid too much sugar.
Sugar is a source of "empty" calories, and many food that are high in sugar are also high in fat.
6. Maintain a moderate protein intake.
Protein should make up about 12 percent of your total daily calories. Choose low-fat sources.
7. Eat a variety of food.
Don't try to eat the same food day in, day out. Eating a wide assortment of food helps to ensure that one gets all the necessary nutrients.
8. Limit sodium intake to no more than 2,400 milligrams per day. This is equivalent to the amount of sodium in a little more than a teaspoon of salt. Cut back on the use of too much salt in cooking and on the table; avoid salty food.
9. Maintain an adequate calcium intake.
Calcium is essential for strong bones and teeth. Get your calcium from low-fat sources, such as skim milk and low-fat yoghurt.
10. Try to get vitamins and minerals from food, not from supplements.
Supplements cannot substitute for a healthy diet, which supplies nutrients and other compounds besides vitamins and minerals. Food also provide the "synergy" that many nutrients require to be efficiently used in the body.
11. Maintain a desirable weight.
Balance energy (calorie) intake with energy output. Eating a low-fat diet will help one maintain or lower the body weight, as will regular exercise.
Other basic diet rules can be:
* Eat only fruits for breakfast
* Have light dinner with plenty of vegetables
* If have to snack, eat fruits and other low-fat food like celery, carrots, dried fruit and nuts
* Avoid late-night eating.
In short, eat wisely has a whole new meaning. After all you are what you eat.
Good health starts at mealtime. Everyday food are full of potent healing ingredients that boost energy, help prevent disease, and make you feel and look better.
Food after all, is body fuel, and adding high energy choices to your diet will keep your 'engine' running at peak performance.
That means, eating breakfast each morning, refueling your body with a meal or snack every four to five hours and choosing the right foods.
What then are the right food for a healthy diet?
To these, Professor Rabindarjeet Singh of School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, said avoid eating fatty food and food containing high sugar content.
HEALTHY DIET
He outlined the basic guidelines for a healthy diet which include:
1. Limit total fat intake.
Fat should supply less than 30 percent of the total daily calories. Choose lean meats, light-meat poultry without the skin, fish, and low-fat dairy products.
In addition, cut back on butter or food made with these as well as on mayonnaise, salad dressings, and fried foods.
2. Limit the intake of saturated fat.
This is the kind of fat, found mostly in animal products, that boosts blood cholesterol levels and has other adverse health effects. It should supply less than one-third of the calories derived from fat.
3. Keep cholesterol intake below 300 milligrams per day.
Cholesterol is found only in animal products, such as meats, poultry, dairy products, and egg yolks.
4. Eat food rich in complex carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates should contribute at least 55 percent of your total daily calories. To help meet this requirement, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and six or more servings of grains (preferably whole grains) or legumes daily.
This will help one obtain the 20 to 30 grams of dietary fibre needed each day, as well as provide important vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals (plant chemicals essential to good health).
5. Avoid too much sugar.
Sugar is a source of "empty" calories, and many food that are high in sugar are also high in fat.
6. Maintain a moderate protein intake.
Protein should make up about 12 percent of your total daily calories. Choose low-fat sources.
7. Eat a variety of food.
Don't try to eat the same food day in, day out. Eating a wide assortment of food helps to ensure that one gets all the necessary nutrients.
8. Limit sodium intake to no more than 2,400 milligrams per day. This is equivalent to the amount of sodium in a little more than a teaspoon of salt. Cut back on the use of too much salt in cooking and on the table; avoid salty food.
9. Maintain an adequate calcium intake.
Calcium is essential for strong bones and teeth. Get your calcium from low-fat sources, such as skim milk and low-fat yoghurt.
10. Try to get vitamins and minerals from food, not from supplements.
Supplements cannot substitute for a healthy diet, which supplies nutrients and other compounds besides vitamins and minerals. Food also provide the "synergy" that many nutrients require to be efficiently used in the body.
11. Maintain a desirable weight.
Balance energy (calorie) intake with energy output. Eating a low-fat diet will help one maintain or lower the body weight, as will regular exercise.
Other basic diet rules can be:
* Eat only fruits for breakfast
* Have light dinner with plenty of vegetables
* If have to snack, eat fruits and other low-fat food like celery, carrots, dried fruit and nuts
* Avoid late-night eating.
In short, eat wisely has a whole new meaning. After all you are what you eat.
posted by The Malaysian. at 8/01/2006 12:59:00 PM
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