HEALTHY DIET AND EXERCISE

Healthy Diet and Exercise
A healthy diet should include a good variety of nutritious foods. These include breads, pastas, fruits and vegetables. Eating breakfast is also an important part of a healthy diet.

Healthy diets contain a variety of foods

In general, we should all drink adequate amounts of water and eat:

• A wide variety of nutritious foods
• Plenty of breads and cereals (particularly wholegrain), fruit, vegetables and legumes (such as chickpeas, lentils and red kidney beans)
• Low-salt foods, and use salt sparingly
• Small amounts of foods which contain added sugars.

Physical activity and healthy eating

A good balance between exercise and food intake is important, as this helps to maintain a healthy body weight. About 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity, such as walking, is recommended every day.

Keep fat to a minimum

Adult diets should be low in fat, especially saturated fat. Saturated fat, which is the predominant fat in animal products, fried foods, chocolate, cakes and biscuits, is more easily deposited as fat tissue than unsaturated fat. Saturated fat can also be converted into cholesterol and cause blood cholesterol levels to rise.

Small amounts of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats may have some health benefits when they are part of a healthy diet. Monounsaturated fats are found in nuts, olive oil and avocados, and may help to lower the bad type of cholesterol. Polyunsaturated fats are generally thought to lower blood cholesterol levels. Polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in fish, nuts and seeds, are thought to have an anti-clotting effect on blood, to reduce the risk of heart disease and to possibly lower blood pressure.

Eat less high-kilojoule foods

The total amount of energy-dense (high-kilojoule) foods you eat may be as important as the total amount of fat in your diet. To reduce the energy density of your diet, you need to increase the amount of plant foods, such as wholegrain breads and cereals, fruit and vegetables that you eat. This will provide essential nutrients, help to make you feel ‘full’ and also reduce the amount of fat in your diet.

Eat foods rich in calcium and iron

It is important for all Australians to eat foods which contain iron and calcium. In particular:

• Calcium – is important for infants, women and girls for bone health.
• Iron – is important for women, girls, vegetarians and athletes to reduce the risk of anaemia