Healthy Eating
Check out the Connect and Share Recipe Book here; you can also contribute to this by emailing your recipe, together with a good clear jpg. Image, to HSE team.
So how do we maintain our health whilst eating well? The key is to ensure a balanced diet; but, to do that we first need to know what is good and what is not so good for us to eat. We should also have a good understanding of how much and how often we need to eat the right foods and how much exercise we should be doing.
The 5 food groups
You have most likely heard of the 5-food-groups needed for good health.
The 5 food groups we should include in our daily diet are:
- Vegetable and legumes/beans – at least 5 serves per day
- Grains, cereal – those in the high-fibre group- – up to 4-6 serves per day
- Fruit – 2 serves per day
- Lean meats, poultry, fish, effs, tofu, nuts, sees – between 2-3 serves per day
- Reduced fat milk, yoghurt, cheese or suitable alternative – from 2-5 serves per day.
This breakdown for adults may be slightly different for children and those who are pregnant or breast feeding – always seek medical advice if unsure.
How much from each food group do I need to eat each day?
To help determine how much of the above food groups should be consumed daily, you can use this calculator to work out what’s right for you, provided by the Department of Health.
This guideline will change depending on the amount of physical activity you are doing – the more you are burning up via exercising and movement, the more your body may require.
What is a kilojoule and how many kilojoules do I need per day
A kilojoule is a measure of energy. We obtain our energy through the fats, carbohydrates and proteins we consume daily. The number of kilojoules we consume daily has a direct impact on our weight – or to be more precise – the amount of body fat. The concept being that:
- if you eat and drink and use the same amount of kilojoules your body fat will remain the same
- if you eat and drink less kilojoules than you use your body fat will go down
- if you eat and drink more kilojoules than you use your body fat will increase.
The number of kilojoules required is impacted on the following factors:
- your age
- your gender
- your current weight and height
- your activity level.
You can roughly calculate how many kilojoules you need using this calculator.
Exercise and good health
Maintaining a balanced diet should not necessarily be about losing or gaining weight (fat); rather it should be about attaining and maintaining good health. Exercise should always be a component of maintaining good health.
The National Physical Activity Guidelines (2010) recommend a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity most days of the week to maintain good health. This is equivalent to a brisk walk, a session in the gym or whatever form of exercise you enjoy at an intensity where you can comfortably talk but not sing!
This does not necessarily need to be done all at one time – some research concludes that accumulative ‘incidental’ activity taken throughout the day is an excellent way to get the body moving and effective in improving hypertension and blood cholesterol. However if your goal is to improve your cardiovascular health and weight management it is recommend that you undertake at least 45-60 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per day.
If you are about to make significant changes to your diet and or are considering starting an exercise program it is advisable to seek professional guidance from your doctor, personal trainer and or dietitian or nutritionist.
More information can be found on the Department of Health Eating Well page.
Some other useful websites to visit:
Discretionary food and drink choices
Your HSE Manager can provide advice if you require support.
