We each have foods that we love, some that we like and others that we really don’t like, but it’s important to have a varied diet for health. There are different types of food, known as food groups that we should try to eat from to help with our overall health. These food groups are fruit and vegetables, starchy foods, dairy, protein and fats.
The NHS Eatwell guide can help you to understand which foods belong to each of these food groups and also guide you in how much of each you should be eating. Here you can also find tips on cutting down on sugar. We need to be careful how much sugar we consume because eating too many sugary foods or drinking sugary drinks is not only bad for our health, but it also bad for our teeth. It’s not always easy to know how much sugar you are consuming as it can be ‘hidden’ in fruit juices and fizzy drinks. You can also find advice on how much you should be drinking here as what you drink is just as important to your health as what you eat.
Ensuring you have a varied diet is as important as how much you eat. This doesn’t mean you have to eat a variety of foods at every meal, but that overall, your diet is balanced to include the correct amount of each food group.
This can be tricky to do, but if you are unsure if you are getting enough of each food group to stay healthy, try writing down what you eat over a week. This can help you see more clearly where you could improve your diet, or maybe make you realize you are eating more or less than you think.
Try it out!
Try keeping a food diary. Use a sheet of paper or a spare notebook to write down what you are eating throughout the day and how it makes you feel. Keeping track of what you have eaten can help you to understand what you are giving your body as fuel and if there are any ways your diet could be improved. Sometimes we think we are hungry when we are dehydrated so try having a drink instead of reaching for a snack as this one small change can help with energy levels and concentration.
Let’s Reflect
In the area of food, which small changes do you think will make the biggest difference to your wellbeing long-term?
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