Food and nutrition.pdf

Chapter 8Dietary GuidelinesWhether you need to lose or maintain weight, you should makehealthy food choices. These guidelines will improve your health, help youmeet your nutrient requirements, and reduce your risk of chronic disease.The Dietary Guidelines recommend that you get the most nutritionout of the calories you eat. You need nutrients to perform well, maintainwellness, and fight disease. But it is important to get those nutrientswithout consuming more calories than you need. To do this, you can't eattoo many high-calorie items (defined as foods with more than 400 caloriesper serving).You should also eat a variety of nutrient-rich foods each day. TheDietary Guidelines recommend that you:Use Plant Foods as the Foundation of Meals(Fruits, Vegetables, and Whole Grains)Most of the calories in your diet should come from a variety of wholegrain products, vegetables, and fruits. Plant foods provide a variety ofvitamins and minerals essential for health and most are naturally low infat.You might want to pay particular attention to the antioxidantnutrients found in plant foods (e.g., vitamin C, carotenoids, vitamin E,and certain minerals) for their potentially beneficial role in reducing therisk for cancer and certain other chronic diseases.Plant foods, such as whole-grain breads and cereals, vegetables, andfruits provide fibre, which is important for proper bowel function andmay lower the risk for heart disease and some cancers. Because there aredifferent types of fibre in foods, choose a variety of foods daily.Get Enough Calcium-rich FoodsConsume three cups of low-fat or fat-free milk or an equivalentamount of calcium each day through other calcium rich foods or a dietarysupplement.Keep saturated and trans fats low (and keep total fat intake moderate)