Healthy Eating
Choosing the right balance of foods can reduce your chances of having cancer and chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease. It has been estimated that diet could contribute to the development of one third of all cancers; eating more fruit and vegetables in your diet is the second most important cancer prevention strategy, after stopping smoking.
Did You Know?
- A healthy diet contains lots of fruit and vegetables, is based on starchy foods and is low in processed foods, fat, salt and sugar.
- If you skip breakfast, you are likely to take in more calories during the course of the day than if you do eat breakfast.
- Food that claims to be ‘fat free’ or ‘low fat’ can often be misleading. Read the ingredients to find out if the product contains a lot of sugar, as this turns into fat in the body anyway.
- Women need fewer calories (1940) per day than men (2550), so don’t serve up equal portions.
- Fully breastfeed for six months.
What Can You Do?
- Drink plenty of water throughout the day (8 glasses per day is the recommended amount). Water decreases your appetite and increases your metabolism.
- Trim excess fat from meats.
- Watch your portion sizes. At home, serve appropriate portion sizes and store the rest for leftovers.
- Use low-fat cooking methods like roasting, baking, broiling, steaming or poaching. Limit deep-fat frying and sautéing in a lot of oil, butter or margarine. Use a cooking spray, broth or water to sauté meats.
- Don’t skip meals. Eat at regular times with your last meal of the day more than two hours before your usual bedtime.
- Aim to eat at least five portions of a variety of types and colours of fruits and vegetables every day. This can include fresh, frozen, canned, juiced or dried fruits and veggies.
