Eating Well

Eating well means eating a variety of different foods. No food is ‘good’ or ‘bad’, it’s the overall balance that counts. There are five food groups and each one gives you different vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, so including all five groups in your diet will help you get the goodness you need. If you also include different foods from within each group, you will give yourself even more variety.

Food groups

Bread, other cereals and potatoes

These foods provide you with energy, fibre and some vitamins and minerals. Make sure that these foods are the basis for each of your meals. Choose from rice, pasta, bread, chappatti, bagels, cous cous, breakfast cereals, porridge, potatoes, yam, plantain, noodles and sweet potatoes, to name but a few.

Fruit and vegetables

Fruit and vegetables are all packed full of vitamins and minerals! Aim to have five portions of these foods a day. A portion could include a medium sized fruit such as apple or banana; two to three smaller fruits such as plums or tangerines; a cup full of grapes, strawberries or other small fruit; a slice of large fruit such as melon or pineapple; a bowl of side salad; a tablespoon of dried fruit such as dried apricots or raisins or a couple of tablespoons of vegetables, including mixed vegetables, as part of a stew or curry. Remember, all fruit and vegetables – fresh, frozen, juiced, dried or tinned, count as a portion.

Meat, fish & alternatives

Full of iron for healthy blood and protein, the building blocks of your body. Try chicken, fish (including oily fish such as sardines, tuna or mackerel), beans such as black-eyed beans, baked beans and dhal, eggs, offal such as liver and kidney, meat, nuts and seeds including peanut butter. Eat these foods at least twice a day.

Milk & dairy foods

A great source of calcium, essential for healthy bones and teeth. Choose from milk, lassi, cheese, panneer, curd and cream cheeses, yoghurts and fromage frais. Try to have three portions a day.

Foods containing fat & foods containing sugar

These foods add lots of energy and variety to your diet, but do not contain as many vitamins and minerals as the other groups. Enjoy these foods less often and keep the portions small! This group includes crisps, cakes, biscuits, sweets and chocolates, sugary drinks such as squash, sugary tea and fruit punch, pies and pasties, coconut cream, oil, margarine and butter and fried food such as chips and samosa.

These guidelines to eating well are suitable for most people who are fit and healthy. For the majority of us, eating well will help to prevent diseases such as heart disease, cancers and diabetes and ensure we don’t become overweight.

However, if you are recovering from an illness, losing weight without trying, or have a small appetite, you may need a larger proportion of foods from the ‘meat, fish and alternatives’, ‘milk and dairy foods’ and ‘foods containing fat and foods containing sugar’ sections. This is because these foods are higher in energy (or calories). Larger portions of these foods will help you to stop losing weight. If you are worried about losing weight, please contact your doctor or district nurse for more advice.

Drink plenty

Along with eating well, you also need to drink plenty to prevent problems such as urinary infections and dehydration. Aim to drink eight cups of fluid per day.

Handy tips for eating in the winter

Eat regularly! Food keeps you warm, so regular meals are a good way to beat the cold. This is particularly important if your heating is not working or is inadequate. Hot food and drinks warm you the most, but cold food is good too!

Store cupboard ideas

Stock up your store cupboard in case you cannot get out because of bad weather, illness, or other problems. Try to build up a few items a week, so you are prepared for winter. Here are some ideas for your store cupboard and freezer from each food group:

Bread, other cereals & potatoes

Tinned potatoes or packets of instant potato, breakfast cereals, porridge oats, cornmeal, rice, pasta, crackers, cous cous. In the freezer have oven chips, a loaf of bread, scones, rolls and buns.

Fruit and vegetables

Tinned vegetables, such as sweetcorn, mushrooms and tomatoes, or frozen spinach, beans and peas. Tinned fruit such as mandarins, peaches, pears, lychees, or dried fruit such as raisins and sultanas. Cartons of fruit juice are another great store cupboard standby.

Meat, fish & alternatives

Tins of hams, corned beef, stew, frankfurters, ravioli, tuna, pilchards and salmon. Buy dried pulses such as lentils or tins of baked beans, kidney beans and other pulses. Nuts and peanut butter are also easy to store. Use your freezer to store meat, fish, tofu, and any ready meals.

Milk & dairy foods

Buy dried milk powder, UHT or sterilised milk. Look out for UHT yoghurts. Tins of custard, rice and other milk puddings are also useful.

Foods containing fat & foods containing sugar

Keep oil and sugar in the cupboard, along with jams and marmalade.

Other foods

Stock up on tea bags, coffee, hot chocolate and other drinks, as well as stock cubes, gravy powder, spices and seasoning. Remember that ready meals and soups, frozen or tinned, are a useful standby.

Meals without cooking

If you are without electricity, or just don’t feel like cooking, it’s still important to eat. Pour yourself a bowl of breakfast cereal or try some of these tasty ideas as a sandwich filling or cracker topping:

Cheese, tuna, ham, peanut butter, cream cheese, boiled egg, sardines mashed in tomato sauce, corned beef, chicken or other cold meat. Add pickle, mustard, mayonnaise or tabasco to add more variety, or fill with salad, such as tomato, onion, lettuce, beetroot, cucumber, carrot or pepper. To ring the changes once again, vary the bread, from sliced white to granary, pitta, bagels, crusty rolls, toast, or French stick.

Quick hot meals

A hot meal doesn’t have to take long to make. How about these quick and nutritious ideas: beans, scrambled egg or pilchards on toast; jacket potato with cheese, beans or tuna; frozen ready meal with extra tinned or frozen veg on the side; tinned macaroni cheese with half a can of tomatoes; quiche with canned potatoes and veg heated in the same pan; savoury rice with frozen veg and ham added during the cooking; pasta and cook-in sauce – add veg to the pan, and cheese after cooking.

Alternatively, when you do feel like cooking, cook extra and freeze your own ready meals. Just remember to defrost and re-heat them thoroughly.

Food safety

• Keep food for as short a time as possible. Follow the storage instructions carefully and observe the ‘use by’ and ‘best before’ dates on labels.
• Wash all salads, fruit and vegetables.
• Avoid eating raw eggs or products containing them.
• Make sure you always heat ready prepared cooked-chilled meals thoroughly and according to the instructions on the label.
• When re-heating food make sure it is heated all the way through and do not re-heat more than once.
• In the refrigerator, store cooked foods away from raw foods.
• When using a microwave oven, observe the standing times recommended by the manufacturer.
• Make sure your refrigerator is working properly and is keeping the food stored in it really cold. The temperature should be between 1°C (34°F) and 4°C (39°F). If you also have a freezer it should be below minus 18°C (0°F).

Links

• Healthy Eating