Healthy Eating for Physical Activity

Why eat a healthy diet?

Eating a healthy balanced diet is important. It will help you to manage your weight and improve your health. It will help you to lower your risk of developing conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

What does a healthy diet look like?

• Eating regular meals
• Having starchy foods such as bread, rice, pasta, cereals or potatoes, with each meal.
• Choosing high fibre versions of foods
• Eating at least 5 portions of fruit, vegetables and salad per day
• Drinking plenty of fluid
• Eating less fat.
• Eating more fish
• Drinking alcohol within recommended safe limits
• Limiting salt and sugar intakes.

Where do I start?

Avoid skipping meals: Eating regular meals provides our bodies with the energy it needs to perform daily activities. Missing meals may leave you feeling tired and lethargic.

Many people think that skipping breakfast will help them to lose weight due to a reduced calorie intake. This is not true, evidence has shown that people who eat breakfast regularly lose weight quicker, are less tempted to snack between meals and are able to maintain their weight better than those who regularly miss meals.

Include starchy foods at each meal: starchy foods such as bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and cereals are important in the diet and should be included at each meal. Starchy foods are an excellent source of energy and provide the body with vital nutrients. Choosing high fibre varieties will help to keep you feel full for longer as the fibre slows down the digestion of the food. Fibre also helps to keep your bowel healthy and reduce the amount of cholesterol in the blood.

To increase the fibre in your diet you could include the following:

• Wholegrain or oat based breakfast cereals such as shredded wheat, porridge, bran flakes or weetabix.
• Granary, seeded, oatmeal or wholemeal bread.
• Potatoes with their skins on.
• Dry roasted or baked sweet potatoes and butternut squash.
• Couscous and bulgar wheat mixed with tomato, cucumber and mint.
• You could try using brown rice or wholewheat pasta.　

Eat more fruit, vegetables or salad:

Most people do not eat enough fruit and vegetables. Fruit, vegetables and salad are an important part of our diet and should be included each day as they are low in calories high in fibre and provide our bodies with a wide range of vitamins and minerals. We should all aim to eat at least 5 portions of fruit, vegetables and salads every day, choosing from a mixture of fresh, frozen, tinned, dried or juice.

What is a portion?

An apple, pear, orange or banana

2 small fruits like satsuma, plums or kiwi

A handful of small fruits like grapes, cherries or berry fruits

A grab handful of dried fruit such as 3 apricots

2 heaped tablespoons of vegetables

A small side salad

A small bowl of tinned fruit in natural juice

150ml of unsweetened fruit juice

Tips for increasing your fruit and vegetable intake.

• Add dried or chopped fresh fruit to breakfast cereals.
• Add salad to sandwiches.
• Have a variety of vegetables with your main meal
• Have fruit and vegetable sticks handy as a healthy snack.

Increase your fluid intake:

It is important that you drink enough fluid each day. Water makes up approximately two-thirds of our body weight and is involved in many essential body processes. For example water helps transport nutrients around our body, remove waste products and regulate body temperature. Water is also lost from the body as urine and sweat. It is important that we replace all lost fluids and keep our body well hydrated. If we do not consume enough fluid we can become dehydrated. Dehydration can cause us to have headaches, feel tired and have reduced concentration.

How much fluid should I drink?

We should aim to drink at least 6-8 cups or glasses of fluid every day to keep us well hydrated. This should be increased if you are being more active and in hot weather. It is important to drink plenty of fluid but make sure that you are not drinking fluids high in sugar. Water is the best drink; though tea, coffee, diet, zero and no added sugar drinks can be counted towards your fluid intake.

Eat less saturated fat:

The main source of saturated fat in our diets comes from animal products such as red meat, butter and cheese. By reducing the amount we eat of these foods and choosing lower fat options and healthier fats will help to improve blood cholesterol levels and help protect the heart.

What changes can you make?

• Choose lean cuts of meat and eat more white meats like chicken and fish
• Remove visible fat from meat and skin from poultry before cooking.
• Grill, bake, steam, poach or casserole rather than cooking in oil.
• Cut down on burgers, sausages, corned beef and luncheon meats, as these are high in fat and salt.
• Avoid pastries such as pasties, sausage rolls and pies.
• Try vegetarian alternatives such as textured vegetable protein (TVP), Quorn or Soya. These are good alternatives to meat in bolognaise and curries.
• Use fats and oils sparingly and choose healthy oils like olive or rapeseed.
• Avoid foods dressed with mayonnaise such as potato salad, coleslaw and some pasta dishes. Try making your own instead with natural yogurt or cr�me fraiche.
• Choose semi-skimmed or skimmed milk in preference to full fat milk.
• Use less hard cheese by cutting thinly or grating.
• Use reduced fat cheeses such as low fat cheddar, Edam, Brie, reduced fat cottage cheese or low fat soft spread cheese.
• Choose low fat, light or diet yogurts.

Eat more fish:

Fish is an excellent, lean source of protein. Oily fish contains an essential fatty acid called omega 3, which helps prevent heart disease. We should aim to eat at least two portions of fish each week, one of which should be oily such as salmon, mackerel, trout or sardines.

Moderate your alcohol intake: drinking too much alcohol can cause health problems.

There is no guaranteed ‘safe’ alcohol limit, however government guidelines recommend that we should not exceed the following recommendations.

• Men should not regularly drink more than three to four units a day.
• Women should not regularly drink more than two to three units a day.
• No alcohol for 48 hours after a heavy drinking session.
• Avoid alcohol completely if you're pregnant or trying to conceive.

Remember: Spread your alcohol intake throughout the week and have at least 2 alcohol free days each week.

Alcohol is also high in calories, so reducing your alcohol intake can also help you to lose weight.

What is a unit?

A unit is 1/2 pint of ordinary strength (3.5 - 4%) beer

1 single small measure (25ml) of spirits

1 small glass (125ml) of low strength (below 9%) wine

Calculating the amount of alcohol that you drink each day can be tricky, as you will need to know how many units are in an alcoholic drink and the amount you drank. It is no longer as simple as � pint of lager is one unit.

In actual fact you may be surprised to know that 1 large glass of wine contains around three units. This is because over recent years pub measures and the percentage alcohol content of alcoholic drinks has increased.

For example the standard wine glass has increased from 125ml to 175 ml and the average alcohol content of wine has increased from 8% to 10-14%.

A useful website to help you calculate your own alcohol intake is Know Your Limits (see Useful　links). http://units.nhs.uk/index.php

How can I reduce my alcohol intake?

• Add diet mixers to alcoholic drinks to make them last longer
• Have longer gaps between drinks.
• Try having low-sugar, non-alcoholic drinks between alcoholic ones.

Limit salt:

Our diets often tend to be higher in salt than we realise as salt is added to most processed foods, added during cooking and at the table. It is recommended that adults should consume less than 6g of salt a day, which is the equivalent to one level teaspoon of salt. This is not a large amount, especially when you consider that 75% of the salt we eat is already in the food we buy.

Salt is linked to high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke, therefore it is important that you keep your salt intake low by:

• not adding salt during cooking, for example when boiling vegetables or potatoes.

• not adding salt at the table; try using pepper, herbs or spices to flavour foods instead.

• try to home cook all foods, as processed foods such as ready meals are very high in salt.

• limit salty snacks such as crisps and nuts.

• limiting highly salted foods such as bacon, cheese, smoked fish and packet soups.

• checking labels of jar, packet or tinned cooking sauces, as these can be high in salt. Look at the figure per 100g and a High amount is more than 1.5g salt per 100g (or 0.6g sodium) and Low amount is 0.3g salt or less per 100g (or 0.1g sodium).

Use less sugar:

Sugar only provides our bodies with calories, it does not contain any vitamins or minerals. Sugars are found in cakes, biscuits, chocolate, sweets, full sugar fizzy drinks and squash. Keeping sugar and sugary foods in your diet to a minimum will help you to maintain a healthy body weight.

You should try to reduce the amount of sugar in your diet by:

• not adding sugar to your foods or drinks. Artificial sweeteners can be used as an alternative to sugar.
• choosing no added-sugar squashes and diet fizzy drinks.
• reducing the amount of cakes, biscuits and chocolate eaten. These can be very high in calories. Try fresh fruit and diet yogurt instead.
• choose diet or light yogurts which are both low in fat and sugar.

Fats and sugars are often added to processed foods. You can spot added sugars by looking at the ingredients list. Be aware that manufacturers often use other words to describe sugars, such as sucrose, glucose, fructose, maltose, hydrolysed starch, invert sugar, corn syrup and honey. Try to limit intakes of all sugars.

Eating the right amounts and the right variety of food along with regular activity or sport will help you towards a healthy lifestyle and to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Eating too little and doing too much activity will mean you have poor energy levels. Eating too much and not doing enough activity will lead to weight gain. Keeping to a healthy lifestyle is all about getting the right balance.

Below are some tips on maintaining a healthy diet as part of that lifestyle!

 

1. Drink plenty of fluids - don't wait until you feel thirsty. Sometimes when we think we are hungry we are just de-hydrated because we have not consumed enough fluids. Water is the best drink to consume regularly so try to aim for 6-8 glasses a day.
   
2. Don't skip meals! It is important to keep your body fuelled throughout the day - skipping meals will lead to you feeling tired and unable to concentrate. Breakfast is essential as it will give you vital energy for the morning as well as re-fuelling your body after a night's sleep. For tips on what you could have for breakfast visit: http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthydiet/eighttipssection/breakfast/
   
3. Cut down on:
   i) Saturated fat: saturated fat increases blood cholesterol and can lead to heart disease so avoiding foods which contain high levels of this is vital. Some fats are needed in the diet but it is important that these are the right types of fat. Unsaturated fats can be included in moderation in your diet as they actually help to lower blood cholesterol and these healthy fats can be found in oily fish, nuts, seeds and olive oil.
   ii) Sugar: sugary foods or those with added sugar are best avoided or only kept as treats to have now and again. These foods include items such as cakes, pastries, chocolates and sweets. Limit the amount of sugar you add to drinks, baking or foods.
   iii) Salt: limit your salt intake and eat no more than 6g a day. A regular high intake of salt could lead to heightened blood pressure.
   
4. Eat more fruit and veg. Aim to eat at least 5 portions (a portion is often the size of your clenched fist) of fruit and veg every day - you can choose from frozen, fresh, tinned, juiced or dried. Try to vary the fruit and veg you eat too - keep your diet colourful!
   
5. Include the right balance of foods:
   i) starches: bread, cereals, pasta, rice, potatoes: These should form the basis for each meal. If you can, try to choose the wholegrain varieties as they will help you to feel fuller for longer.
   ii) dairy: milk, cream, cheese, yogurt, fromage frais: dairy products are a good source of protein and calcium. It is possible to enjoy dairy as part of a healthy diet but always keep an eye on how much you eat, how often you eat it and what you eat. In addition, you could try to substitute dairy for lower fat varieties if you can such as using low fat creme fraiche as a substitute for cream.
   iii) meat: chicken, turkey, beef, bacon: meat can be a good source of protein but it is important to buy the right cut of meat and to think about how you are going to cook it (roasting and grilling meats is the healthiest way to cook them). Try to go for the leanest meats and cuts that are available - your butcher will know these. Turkey and chicken breasts (without the skin) are often lower in fat where as sausages, burgers and pate's are often higher in fat so make sure you limit these and avoid meats covered in pastry such as pork pies, pasties and sausage rolls as these are often high in fat and high in salt too!
   
6. Be alcohol aware: Keep an eye on the amount of alcohol you consume. Drinking too much can lead to health problems. Alcohol also contains a lot of calories - so over-consumption can lead to weight gain. For more information and guidelines around sensible and responsible drinking please visit: http://www.units.nhs.uk/

Information courtesy of Nutrition and Dietetics Department, Leighton Hospital, Nr Crewe, Cheshire.