3 Simple Steps to Manage your Weight
Improving your Child's Diet
Simple Steps for a more Active Lifestyle
Add it Up:
Your Sugar Intake
Healthy Living Factsheets
The more you know about food, the better.
We hope that by helping you make informed choices you will be able to enjoy a healthy and tasty diet. To start with, it's important to have an understanding of the different nutrients that your body needs each day:
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrate provides the body with energy (1 gram provides 16kJ / 3.75kcal). There are two main types of carbohydrates: sugars (found in fruit and milk) and starch (found in rice, pasta, bread and potatoes).
At least half of the energy in your diet should come from carbohydrates, ideally mostly from starches.
Protein
The body needs protein to grow and repair itself. Protein also provides energy (1 gram provides 17kJ / 4kcal). Most of us eat more protein than we need each day, although it should be noted that the amount that we need changes during our lifetime.
Protein-rich foods include meat, fish, milk and dairy foods, eggs, beans, lentils and nuts.
Fat
Fat provides the body with energy (1 gram provides 37kJ / 9kcal). It is usually divided into two groups, saturated and unsaturated.
A high intake of saturated fats is associated with higher blood cholesterol levels, which increases the chance of developing heart disease.
No more than a third of your daily energy intake should come from fat, but it's also important to try and replace saturated fats (such as lard, butter & cheese) with unsaturated fats (vegetable oil, oily fish).
Vitamins & Minerals
Vitamins and minerals are nutrients that your body needs in order to function properly. Most of them can't be produced by your body so they must be sourced from your diet.
Fibre
Fibre is a type of carbohydrate found only in plants. It is needed to keep the digestive system healthy and can be found in cereal foods, beans, whole meal bread, fruit and vegetables. Most people in the UK do not eat enough fibre.
Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs)
Guideline Daily Amounts provide a guide to the amount of calories, fat, saturates, salt and sugar that make up a healthy diet, helping you to make sense of the nutrition information provided on food labels.
The amount you need varies according to your age, weight and physical activity, but the following is the GDA for an 'average' adult.
| Per Day | Women | Men |
| Energy (Calories) | 2000kcal | 2500kcal |
| Carbohydrate (g) | 270g | 340g |
| Protein (g) | 50g | 60g |
| Fat (g) | 70g | 80g |
| Saturated Fat (g) | 20g | 30g |
| Fibre (g) | 25g | 25g |
| Sodium (salt) | 2.4 g (6g) | 2.4 g (6g) |
| Sugars (g) | 90g | 110g |
Its not much fun trying to measure everything in grams of this and that, so we prefer to group foods into five categories:
- Bread, cereals and potatoes (includes carbohydrates, fibre, some calcium, iron and B vitamins)
- Fruit and vegetables (includes fibre, vitamins and minerals)
- Milk and dairy (includes calcium, protein, vitamin B12, vitamins A and D)
- Meat and fish (includes protein, iron, B vitamins, zinc, magnesium)
- Foods containing fat; foods and drinks containing sugar (includes some essential fatty acids and vitamins)
Please click here to learn more about how much of these you should be eating.
