Knowledge for Healthy Eating

Healthy Eating

Having a healthy diet is sometimes easier said than done. It is tempting to turn to less healthy food choices because they might be easy to get or prepare, or they satisfy a craving. Between family and work or school, you are probably balancing a hundred things at once. Taking time to buy the ingredients for and cooking a healthy meal sometimes falls last on your list. But you should know that it isn't hard to make simple changes to improve your diet. And you can make sense of the mounds of nutrition information out there. A little learning and planning can help you find a diet to fit your lifestyle, and maybe you can have some fun in the process!

Why Choose a Healthy Diet?

Obesity in women is on the rise. Overall, about one third of all women are obese. But some groups of women suffer more. Half of African American women and 40 percent of Mexican American women are obese. Native Hawaiian and Samoan women are among the most obese in the world. Obesity is measured with a body mass index (BMI), which shows the relationship of weight to height. As a woman's body mass increases, so does her risk for serious health problems. Some of these problems include heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and some cancers. A woman's weight is affected by how much physical activity she does, her diet, and her genes. So having a healthy diet is one of the most important things you can do to help your overall health. If you burn as many calories as you take in, your weight remains the same. If you take in fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight. So make sure the foods you eat are healthy ones that will work hard for your body.

Basic Steps to a Healthy Diet

 

Although there are different food pyramids for you to choose from, the challenge is to pick one, then create an eating plan that embraces healthy food. No matter which specific diet or pyramid you choose, the basic steps to good nutrition come from a diet that:

• helps you either lose weight or keeps your BMI in the "healthy" range
• is balanced overall, with foods from all groups, with lots of delicious fruits, vegetables, and grains
• is low in saturated fat and cholesterol and moderate in total fat intake (less than 10 percent of your daily calories should come from saturated fat, and less than 30 percent of your daily calories should come from total fat)
• includes a variety of grains daily, especially whole grains, a good source of fiber
• includes enough fruits and vegetables (a variety of each, five to nine servings each day)
• has a small number of calories from added sugars (like in candy, cookies, and cakes)
• has foods prepared with less sodium or salt (aim for no more than 2,400 milligrams of sodium per day, or about one teaspoon of salt per day for a healthy heart)
• if you drink alcoholic beverages, does not include more than one drink per day (two drinks per day for men)