Eating Well
Healthy eating is all about enjoying a variety of foods from
each of the five food groups:
- vegetables and legumes/beans
- fruit
- grain foods such as breads, cereals, rice and pasta
- lean meat, fish, poultry and nuts
- milk yoghurt and cheese or alternatives
The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating provides an easy guide to
the types of food we should be eating every day for good health. To
make things even easier the guide also outlines how many serves of
each food group we should be aiming for each day. Download the
guide using the link in the Healthy Eating Resources box and read
below for great healthy eating tips from the Diabetes Queensland
Dietitians.
Vegetables and
legumes/beans
Eating a wide variety of vegetables every day is a great way to
make sure that you are getting the nutrients you need to stay
healthy. As well as providing an important nutrient hit and loads
of fibre, vegetables are very low in kilojoules meaning they are
great food to fill up on without having to worry about your
waistline.
For good health, we should all be eating at least 5 serves of
vegetables every day. A serve of vegetables is equal to 1 potato, ½
cooked vegetables, 1 cup of salad vegetables or ½ cup of lentils or
other legumes.
Types of vegetables include:
- Carrots, broccoli, peas,
corn, zucchini
- Potato, sweet potato,
pumpkin
- Lettuce, cucumber,
tomato
- Chickpeas, kidney beans,
lentils
Canned, frozen and dried varieties of vegetables are great
alternatives for fresh vegetables and are just as nutritious. These
foods are often cheap, easy to prepare and may be easier to access
in remote areas. Just, make sure you choose no added salt
varieties.
Finding it hard to reach your 5 serves of
vegetables? Try these tips to get more veggies into your
day:
- Eat a variety of colours
of vegetables every day including, red, green, orange, white
choices
- Cut up vegetables into
sticks and store in the fridge for an easy and healthy snack
- Add vegetables to every
meal. Add grated or chopped vegies into soups, casseroles or pasta
dishes. Add beans to meat dishes such as bolognese sauce or taco
mince.
- Buy vegetables in season
or from local sources such as farmers markets for best value for
money and long lasting freshness.
Fruit
In Queensland we are blessed with a huge variety of delicious
fruit all year round. Like vegetables, fruit provides loads of
important nutrients and are packed with fibre. Fruit provides a
little more kilojoules than vegetables though, which why we suggest
2 serves of fruit a day.
Canned, dried and frozen fruit are also great choices for quick
and healthy snacks or to add to your favourite meals. Make sure you
choose canned fruit in natural juices rather than in syrup.
Example serves of fruit include
- 1 medium apple, pear,
banana or orange
- 2 small apricots, plums or
kiwi fruits
- 1 cup of canned fruit
- ½ cup of juice
- dried apricots of 1 ½
tablespoons of sultanas
Tips to enjoy more fruit every day:
- Buy fruit in season or
from local sources such as farmers markets for best value for money
and long lasting freshness
- Choose fruit more often
than fruit juice for added fibre
- Try fruit as a dessert
with low fat yoghurt or custard
- Fruit is great for an
active lifestyle and provides a sustained energy source for sport
and other activities. So why not swap a sports drink for a banana
and a bottle of water.
Grain foods such as breads, cereals,
rice and pasta
Grain foods should make up the majority of our diet, so try to
eat these foods at every meal. Go for wholegrain varieties, like
multigrain bread, wherever possible to make sure you get long
lasting energy and plenty of fibre.
The grain foods group includes food like:
- breads
- breakfast cereal
- oats
- rice
- pasta
- noodles
- crispbreads
- crumpets
- polenta
- cous cous
- quinoa
Often people are concerned about eating too many foods from this
food group, particularly if they are trying to lose weight. But
these foods tend to be very low in fat and will keep you fuller for
longer, particularly if you choose wholegrain options.
Keep an eye on your portion sizes and try to reduce the amount
of butter, margarine or other high fat spreads that you add to
these foods.
A serve of grain foods is equal to:
Great grain tips:
- For variety, experiment
with different grain foods like cous cous or polenta. They are very
quick to prepare and delicious served with casserole dishes
- Add pearl barley to soups
for an extra burst of energy
- Try different types of
breads for your lunch time sandwiches including Turkish bread, pita
bread or wraps.
Try these recipes: Recipes with vegetables
Lean meat, fish, poultry and
nuts
This food group is the main source of protein, iron and vitamin
B12 for our bodies. Iron is particularly important for women and
the iron in meat is more easily absorbed that the iron from other
foods such as vegetables and legumes.
Meat is an important part of the Australian diet but we tend to
eat bigger servings than we require. A serve of meat is equal
to:
- 65g of meats such as beef, pork
or lamb
- 80g of chicken or
turkey
- 100g of fish
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup of lentils, chickpeas or
other beans
- 170g tofu, or
- 30g plain nuts
For those who don't eat meat, alternatives such as lentils,
chickpeas or other beans are important sources of protein. However
everyone could benefit from eating these types of foods more
often.
The fat in meat tends to be saturated fat so be sure to choose
lean cuts of meat wherever possible and remove all visible fat from
your meat before you cook it.
Tips:
- Try low fat cooking
methods such as grilling or stir frying.
- Flavour your meat with low
fat marinades and herbs such as a mixture of mixed herbs, garlic
and lemon juice.
- When cooking casseroles
and stews allow them to cool slightly and skim the fat off the top
before serving.
- Try to eat more fish every
week, grill or bake your fish rather than deep frying.
- To save money and boost
the fibre and nutrients in your meal, reduce the amount of meat you
use in a meal and add extra legumes like kidney beans or
chickpeas.
Milk yoghurt and cheese or
alternatives
Dairy foods such as milk, yoghurt and cheese are an important
source of calcium and protein. Most adults are recommended to eat
about 2 serves of dairy each day. For good health try to choose low
fat or skim varieties of milk, yoghurt and cheese.
An example serve from this food group is:
- 1 cup of milk
- 40g of cheese
- 200g tub of yoghurt
- ½ cup evaporated milk
- 5 sardines
- 1 cup almonds
If you don't eat food from this group calcium fortified soy milk
or yogurt are great alternatives.
Tips to include more dairy in your day
- Have a glass of milk at
breakfast time
- Snack on low fat
yogurt
- Try to drink plain milk
instead of flavoured milk to avoid the extra sugar in these
drinks
- Add cheese to your
sandwiches
- If you don't like eating
dairy foods you can still meet your requirements by adding milk or
milk powder to soups or sauces or adding cheese to pasta or
vegetable dishes.
- While soft cheeses like
ricotta and cottage cheese are low in fat and kilojoules they
cannot be counted towards your serves from this food group as they
only contain very small amounts of calcium.
Never again will you skip breakfast with this quick and easy swiss style muesli.
Find out more about diabetes, food choices and
carbohydrates.