When you know about healthy living, you know how to stay fit and healthy! You know about nutrients and where to find them, and how having good personal hygiene helps you to fight microbes. You know that exercise keeps your body fit and muscles like your heart strong. Healthy living also means you are sensible about things like sunshine, which is very good for you but can also be very, very bad. You also know all about how bad smoking is for your body! Healthy living is easy, when you know how - click on the links to find out more!
Every living thing needs food to survive but only the right foods allow your body to be at its healthiest! Different types of food give you energy; help your body to grow strong and to fix itself when it needs to. The food pyramid is really useful - it reminds you to exercise and advises you on the different types of food you should eat every day!
Grains are the most important fuel for your body. They are complex carbohydrates (sometimes called starches) that provide you with lots of energy as well as vitamins, minerals and fibre. Grains are the seeds of grasses but you don’t need to eat grass! You can find grains in foods like breads, rice, cereals & pasta. These foods are one of the largest wedges of the food pyramid and eating six servings every day will help you to stay healthy!
Vegetables, like fruit, are superfoods! There are lots of different types to choose from and they all contain vitamins, fibre and other nutrients that are very good for you. Vegetables are super even when they are fresh, frozen, canned or dried. They don’t have lots of fats or calories so they are a great snack food. Eating 2 - 5 servings of vegetables every day will help you to stay fit and healthy!
Fruit, like vegetables, are superfoods! They are full of vitamins, fibre and other great nutrients that help to keep you healthy and protect you from disease. Fruit doesn’t have lots of fats or calories so they are the perfect snack food! You can eat fruit when it is fresh, frozen, canned or dried, in lots of different ways, all year round. Eating 2 - 5 servings of fruit every day will help to keep you healthy!
Your body needs fats, oils, sugars and salts to work properly – just not very much of them! Fat and oils help your body to use the vitamins you get from fruits and vegetables. Your best choice is healthy oils made from vegetables, nuts and fish. Like fats, you need sugars and salt in very small amounts to keep you healthy – too much can be very bad for you.
The milk group of the food pyramid includes lots of dairy products like cheese and yoghurt - but not margarine, butter or cream, which are fats. Milk and other dairy products contain a lot of calcium, even when they don’t have a lot of fat (like low fat or skimmed dairy products). Calcium is a mineral that helps you grow and keeps your bones and teeth healthy and strong!
Meat and beans are a really important part of your diet. They have lots of protein which helps your body to grow and repair itself. This group of the food pyramid has all the different types of meat and beans but also includes fish, eggs, nuts, seeds and soy so you have lots of choice! Eating 2 portions of lean protein (like chicken without the skin) a day will help you to grow strong and healthy! How do vegetarians get their protein?
