Change to healthy eating

To change to healthy eating can be challenging and is not always easy. However, if you make some simple changes this can already make a world of difference to your health!

To guide everyone towards healthier eating, nutritionists, dieticians and doctors provide more or less the same diet information and recommend the same basic food and health principles.

The key to healthy eating is balance, variety and moderation. In short, that means eating a wide variety of foods, not too many calories and not too much of any one nutrient.

Some healthy eating pointers

Please look at the following suggestions on how to reduce your risk of illness and how to manage your weight.

- Eat four to five portions of fruit and vegetables every day.

- Change the way you cook your food; try grilling instead of frying, and steaming instead of boiling.

- Reduce the amount of fat and sugar in your diet. Please check the food labels for the amount of fat and sugar.

- Increase the amount of starchy foods (pasta, rice and potatoes).

- Drink at least 6 glasses of (purified) water, diluted juices and/or herb tea each day.

- Increase your physical activities.

- Enjoy your food and make sure that your diet is healthy and balanced.

What to avoid and what to choose:

Avoid processed foods as much as possible, since they are loaded with artificial additives, salt and sugar and are usually stripped of many of the vitamins and minerals essential for good health. Instead, cook meals using fresh natural ingredients.

Avoid white bread and flour. Instead, choose whole meal bread and flour, rice cakes, or pumpernickel.

Avoid white rice. Instead, choose brown rice, buckwheat, bulgur wheat, oats or couscous.

Avoid refined sugar (sweets, cakes, biscuits). Instead, choose fruit.

Avoid too much intake of red meat, since it has been linked to various diseases and often are high in saturated fat. Instead eat white meat and fish. Fish (especially herrings, mackerel, salmon and sardines) contains high levels of essential fatty acids, required by the body for optimum health. Essential fatty acids are also found in cold pressed oils, (olive, walnut, safflower, and sunflower), seeds, nuts and avocados. Please avoid processed oils and margarine, especially hydrogenated oils, as much as possible.