The Government’s Balance of Health Recommendations
are:
(A “portion” is an average serving size such as one slice
of bread, an apple, two tablespoons of beans or cooked vegetables)
5 portions a day of fruit and vegetables
The easiest way to obtain these is to make sure that every meal includes
at least one portion of fruit, vegetables (potatoes don’t count
in this category) or salad vegetables, at least two portions with your
main meal, and have a piece of fresh fruit as a snack during the day.
At
breakfast you
can
have
a
glass
of fruit
juice or sprinkle dried fruits on your cereal. Make sure your main
meal of the day includes a large mixed salad or a mixed, cooked vegetable
dish.
For recipes with a high content of fruit and vegetables, check out
the links below:
Fruit : Salads
and vegetables
5 portions a day of starchy
foods
(bread, other cereals or potatoes)
This is not too difficult to obtain as most main meal combinations
will be based on potatoes, rice, pasta, sweet corn, bread
or some other
form
of cereal or grains. Choose whole grains rather than “white” for
healthy eating as they contain more vitamins, minerals and
fibre. 2-3 portions a day of high protein foods
Include a variety of pulses (for example beans, lentils, peas and chick
peas), nuts, seeds, eggs, soya, tofu, tempeh, mycoprotein (Quorn) or
wheat proteins in your main meals. When you are choosing a main course
recipe, try to make sure it contains a good serving of at least one
of these foods. However, if you fancy a recipe that is low in protein
for your main dish, don’t despair, there are easy ways of adding
protein to a meal. eg:
•Serve a side dish of garden peas, marrowfat peas or beans (broad,
butter, kidney, flageolet, haricot for preference as those served as
fresh vegetables inside their
pods - such as runner, french
and string - will contain less protein)
•Sprinkle a mixture of toasted seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame)
over a salad
•Let some grated vegetarian cheese melt over a cooked vegetable
side dish
•Add cubes of marinated tofu to a salad
•Thicken a sauce with finely ground nuts or nut butters
•Sprinkle chopped nuts over a dessert or over your breakfast cereal
•Serve a cheese board instead of a sweet dessert
For recipes with a high content of protein-rich ingredients, check
out the links below:
Nuts : Beans : Tofu :
Mycoprotein & Soya protein
2-3 portions a day of milk and dairy products
These are good sources of calcium, protein and some vitamins. If you
are avoiding dairy foods, choose fortified soya, rice or oat drinks
or make sure that you eat other foods that are high in calcium.
0-3 portions a day of fatty and sugary foods
Although we need to eat some fat, we all need to eat these foods sparingly
and try low fat alternatives.
If you would like to learn more about this subject, the following links
may be useful:
Balance of health diagram
Basic Nutrition info sheet
Protein info sheet
Calcium info sheet
Vitamins and Minerals info sheet
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