Food Groups: Recommendations For Maintaining The Body

Unhealthy diets and lack of physical activity are major health risks worldwide.

People currently consume more foods high in calories, fat, free sugars and salt than fruits, vegetables and other types of fiber such as whole grains.

However, the basic principles of a healthy diet remain the same. Why follow them?

A healthy diet helps prevent non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer.

Principles of healthy eating from WHO experts

The World Health Organization has developed 12 principles of healthy eating.

A healthy, balanced diet is based on a variety of foods that are predominantly plant-based rather than animal-based.

1. Bread, cereals and pasta, rice and potatoes should be eaten several times a day, at every meal.

2. A variety of vegetables and fruits should be consumed several times a day (more than 500 grams). Preference for local products.

3. Milk and dairy products low in fat and salt (kefir, sour milk, cheese, yogurt) are essential in the daily diet.

    

4. Replace high-fat meats and meat products with legumes, fish, poultry, eggs, or lean meats. Portions of meat, fish or poultry should be small.

5. Limit the consumption of "visible" fat in cereals and sandwiches, choose low-fat varieties of meat and dairy products.

6. Limit your intake of sugar: sweets, confectionery, desserts.

7. Total salt intake, including salt found in bread, canned foods, and other foods, should not exceed one teaspoon (6 grams) per day. The use of iodized salt is recommended.

    

8. The ideal body weight should correspond to the recommended limits.

   Body mass index in the range of 20-25. Calculated using the Quetelet formula:

   BMI \u003d M (kg): H2 (m), where M is mass, H is height.

    

9. At least a moderate level of physical activity should be maintained.

10. You should not consume more than two servings of alcohol per day (each serving contains 10g).

11. Choose from a variety of foods (fresh, frozen, dried), primarily locally grown. Give preference to steaming or microwave cooking, by boiling, baking. Reduce the addition of fats, oils, sugar in the cooking process.

12. Adhere to exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a baby's life. Breastfeeding can be continued up to two years.

food pyramid

The WHO presented the above principles in a “healthy diet pyramid”.

This pyramid uses the traffic light principle:

• green - forward

• yellow - "carefully"

• red - beware.

Foods in the green part of the pyramid should form the basis of a person's daily nutrition, but as you move towards the red color, the amount of food consumed should be controlled.

Main food groups

1. Fruits, vegetables, legumes (eg, lentils, beans), nuts, and whole grains (eg, buckwheat, quinoa, millet, oats, wheat, and brown rice).

2. At least 400 grams (i.e. five servings) of fruits and vegetables per day, excluding potatoes, sweet potatoes, and other starchy root vegetables.

3. The protein component of the diet is fish, poultry, eggs or lean meats. Portions should be small.

4. Free sugars should make up less than 10% of total energy intake, which is the equivalent of 50 grams (or 12 flat teaspoons) for a normal weight person consuming about 2,000 calories per day.

   But ideally, in order to provide additional health benefits, they should be less than 5% of total energy intake.

   Free sugars are all sugars added to foods or drinks by the manufacturer, cook or consumer, as well as sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and their concentrates.

    

5. Fats should make up less than 30% of total energy intake.

   Preference should be given to unsaturated fats.

   They are found in fish, avocados and nuts, as well as in sunflower, olive and other oils.

   It is recommended to reduce saturated fat intake to less than 10% and trans fats to less than 1% of total energy intake.

   Saturated fats are found in fatty meats, butter, coconut oil, cream, cheese, ghee, lard.

   Recommended

   "Foods B6: vitamin intake norms" More

   Industrially produced trans fats are found in baked and fried foods, pre-packaged snack foods and other foods (frozen pizzas, pies, cookies, waffles, cooking oils, and sandwich mixes), and naturally found in meat and dairy products derived from ruminants such as cows. , sheep, goats and camels).

   In particular, industrial trans fats, which are not part of a healthy diet, should be avoided.

    

6. Less than 5 grams of salt (equivalent to about one teaspoon) per day. Salt must be iodized.

   The diet is based on water (1.5-2 liters per day)

   Less than 5 grams of salt per day (equivalent to less than 2 grams of sodium per day) helps prevent hypertension and lowers the risk of heart disease and stroke in adults.

   WHO Member States have set targets to reduce global salt intake by 30% by 2025, and to halt the rise in diabetes and obesity in adults and adolescents and overweight in children by 2025.

   The US Department of Agriculture and nutritionists at the Harvard Medical Institute in 2011 introduced a new nutrition system "My Plate" to replace the "Food Pyramid". They divided the plate into parts and prescribed what it should consist of.

    

Practical recommendations for maintaining a healthy diet

This is a guide to healthy, balanced eating - on your plate or in your lunch box. Attach a copy to your refrigerator for a daily reminder of a healthy, balanced diet.

1. Vegetables and fruits should make up the bulk of your meal - ½ plate. Provide a variety of colors and types of your food, and remember that potatoes are not considered a vegetable due to their starch content.

2. Prefer whole grains - ¼ plate.

   Whole and unrefined grains – whole wheat, barley, wheat grains, quinoa, oatmeal, buckwheat, brown rice, and products made from them, such as whole wheat pasta – have less effect on blood sugar and insulin levels than white bread. white rice and other refined grains.

    

3. Protein - ¼ plate.

   Fish, chicken, beans, nuts are healthy and varied sources of protein. They can be added to a salad and go well with vegetables. Limit your intake of red meat and avoid processed foods such as bacon and sausages.

    

4. Useful vegetable oils - in moderation.

    

5. Drink water, coffee or tea.

   Avoid sugary drinks, limit milk and dairy products to one or two servings per day, limit juice intake to a small glass per day.

   And most importantly, be active. This also depends on your daily caloric intake.

   The World Health Organization gives recommendations on how to calculate the caloric content of a daily diet:

   For women from 18 to 30 years old (0.062 x weight in kg + 2.036) x 240 x CFA;

   For women from 31 to 60 years old (0.034 x weight in kg + 3.538) x 240 x CFA;

   For women over 60 years old (0.038 x weight in kg + 2.755) x 240 x CFA.

   For men from 18 to 30 years old (0.063 x body weight in kg + 2.896) x 240 x CFA;

   For men from 31 to 60 years old (0.484 x body weight in kg + 3.653) x 240 x CFA;

   For men over 60 years old (0.491 x body weight in kg + 2.459) x 240 x CFA.

   Where CFA is the coefficient of physical activity: 1 - low, 1.3 - medium, 1.5 - high.

   Depending on the received daily calorie content, portions will correspond to each food group.

   A balanced diet in terms of BJU ratio will look like this:

   • For weight loss: 30-35% proteins, 30-35% fats, 30-40% carbohydrates.

   • For weight maintenance: 25-35% proteins, 25-35% fats, 40-50% carbohydrates.

   • For weight gain: 35-40% proteins, 15-25% fats, 40-60% carbohydrates.

   With this distribution of BJU in the diet, the body receives sufficient nutrients and vitamins.

    

Food groups for children

In accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, every child of infants and other age groups has the right to adequate nutrition.

In 2017, worldwide, 155 million children under the age of five were estimated to be stunted (too short for their age), 52 million children had a low weight-for-height ratio, while 41 million children had overweight or obesity.

Optimal nutrition during the first two years of life promotes healthy growth and improves cognitive development.

The recommendations for healthy eating for infants and children of other age groups are similar to those for adults, but the following components are also important:

1. During the first 6 months of life, children should be exclusively breastfed.

2. Breastfeeding should continue for the first two years of life and beyond.

3. From the age of six months, breast milk must be supplemented with a variety of appropriate, safe and nutritious foods.

4. Salt and sugar should not be added to complementary foods.

Breast milk is also an important source of energy and nutrients for children aged 6-23 months. It can provide half or more of the energy needs of a child aged 6-12 months and one third of the energy needs of a child aged 12-24 months.

Breast milk is also an important source of energy and nutrients during illness and contributes to a reduction in mortality among malnourished children.

On this small plate:

½ plate - fresh vegetables and herbs, ¼ plate - protein, ¼ plate - garnish + season the food with healthy fats.

The distribution of kcal for a child 7-18 years old should be as follows:

• breakfast 20-25%

• lunch 30-35%

• afternoon snack 10% - floating meal

• dinner 25-30%

The distribution of products during the day does not really matter, because each product contains both fats, proteins, and carbohydrates.

All meals are built on this principle.

1. Healthy fats are needed to improve brain function and memory.

   The diet should contain fatty fish, meat, offal, caviar, butter and coconut oil, ghee oil, avocados, eggs, walnuts and pine nuts, almonds, cashews, seeds. Sunflower lecithin can also be added to children to support brain cells;

    

2. Energy sources.

   • Slow carbohydrates: green buckwheat, quinoa, millet, rice, whole grain bread.

   • Protein: fish and seafood

    

1. Fiber: vegetables and fruits.

   It is better to choose seasonal ones; in the off-season, preference can be given to frozen vegetables and berries

    

2. Source of calcium. These are sesame, dairy products. If milk still remains in the diet, then it is better to prefer organic, goat

3. Sources of vitamins C, PP, B6.

4. Cranberries, lingonberries, raspberries, blueberries, rose hips.

   It is important to include all food groups in the diet in order to provide the body with all the necessary vitamins.

    

* 1 niacin equivalent (NE) equals 1 mg of niacin or 60 mg of dietary tryptophan.

There are many resources where you can find out the content of certain vitamins in foods. For a balanced diet. For example, B vitamins, which are important for a child's energy, mental development, and growth, are found in the following foods.

Do not forget that there are individual characteristics of assimilation and susceptibility to products. Therefore, follow the general principles of a healthy balanced diet, but also listen to your feelings. Change your diet and calories as needed.