Healthy eating

Eating a balanced diet is a fundamental part of maintaining good health and supports us with feeling at our best. A varied, balanced, healthy diet:

helps us to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight
improves our general sense of well-being
reduces the risk of many conditions including heart disease, stroke, some cancers, diabetes and osteoporosis

Important: If you have any special dietary needs or a medical condition you should ask your GP practice or a registered dietitian for advice on eating well.

The five food groups

We need to include five food groups:

Fruits and vegetables
Potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy carbohydrates
Beans, pulses, eggs, meat and other proteins
Dairy and alternatives
Fats – oils and spreads

The Eat Well Guide opposite shows the proportion of each of these food groups you diet should generally be made up of.

If you choose a variety of foods from each of these groups, you can easily achieve a healthy balance. Foods high in fat, salt and sugars are not needed in the diet, so if you do choose to include them, then try to have them less often and in smaller amounts.