Diet and Health Info

Obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and other illness can be minimized through eating a healthy diet. There are 3 basic aspects of healthy eating.

1. Moderation

Moderation means both watching portion size and not focusing on just one or a few “good” foods. Depriving yourself of favorite foods will just make you crave them more. You need to eat a variety of foods from each of the food groups but in moderation. Portion sizes have increased over the year - along with calorie count and our waistlines.

Take the portion distortion quiz from the Department of Health and Human Services to learn just how much food portions have grown over the years: Portion Distortion Quiz

2. Balance

The different food groups supply us with different building blocks our body need. Some food groups supply us with vitamins, others with essential fats, and others with proteins. No one food supplies all our needs. Balance means including items from all the food groups.

The US Department of Agriculture’s food pyramid offers dietary guidelines for getting the right balance from each of the food groups: Food Pyramid

3. Variety

Variety means to ensure you choose different foods from each of the food groups. Balance means choosing foods from all of the food groups while variety means choosing different foods from within each group. Also variety in your diet keeps you from getting bored by eating the same foods every day.