Nutrition
Good nutrition means eating a balanced diet rich in vitamins and minerals to fuel your body with what it needs, whereas Poor nutrition means not getting enough nutrients for your body.
Interaction to adequate amounts of safe and healthy food is key to sustaining life and promoting good health. However, unsafe food containing harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances can cause so many diseases – ranging from diarrhea to cancers. Diet is just one of the lifestyle factors that influence the risk of developing cancer. What you eat is closely linked to your health. By making healthier food choices, you can prevent or treat some conditions. Your daily food selection should include a balance of good carbs, protein, fruits, veggies, and dairy products.
Five major food groups
The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating groups the foods that should make up our daily diets into five major food groups.
Foods are grouped together because they provide similar amounts of key nutrients. Eating a varied, well-balanced diet means eating a variety of foods from each of the five food groups daily, in the recommended amounts. Because different foods provide different types and amounts of key nutrients, it is important to choose a variety of foods from within each food group. Foods are grouped together because they provide similar amounts of key nutrients. For example, key nutrients of the milk, yoghurt, cheese and alternatives group include calcium and protein, while the fruit group is a good source of vitamins, especially vitamin C.
The five food groups are:
- vegetables and legumes or beans
- fruits
- lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds, legumes or beans
- grain (cereal) foods, mostly wholegrain or high cereal fibre varieties
- milk, yoghurt, cheese or alternatives, mostly reduced fat.