Confusing and sometimes competing messages from marketers, health organizations, supplement companies and the news media makes eating healthfully seem complicated. In fact, healthy diet plans focus on simple, pure foods that are close to nature. Eating a variety of foods with a balance of macronutrients can help you manage your weight, keep you healthy and satisfy your appetite.
Features
Healthy diet plans advocated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States Department of Agriculture, the American Heart Association and the Harvard School of Public Health emphasize a high intake of fresh fruits and vegetables. In addition to being loaded with vitamins, fiber and anti-oxidants, fruits and vegetables contain fewer calories than most other foods---allowing you to eat large, satisfying portions without gaining weight. Along with fresh produce, healthy diet plans include lean proteins, whole grains and unsaturated fats.
Types of Foods
Healthy diet plans emphasize colorful vegetables like dark greens, yellow peppers, purple eggplant and orange squash. Going for a variety of colors can help you obtain a variety of different nutrients. Limit your intake of red meat, recommends the Harvard School of Public Health, as too much can increase your risk of colon cancer and result in elevated cholesterol levels. A healthy diet plan pushes skinless poultry, beans and fish as your primary protein sources. Whole grains, like oatmeal, barley and brown rice, provide fiber and nutrients not found in white, refined products. Low-fat dairy like skim milk, cottage cheese and plain yogurt offer calcium and protein. Healthy unsaturated fats do not raise your "bad" cholesterol levels like trans fats or saturated fats and should be part of a healthy diet plan. Find them in plant oils, nuts, avocados and fatty fish.
Misconceptions
Eating too large a portion is one of the most common causes of weight gain notes the Cleveland Clinic. Too much healthy food will still cause weight gain. As the American Heart Association recommends, use up all the calories you take in to maintain your weight and stay healthy.
Processed Foods
A healthy diet plan sticks to foods that your great-great-grandmother would recognize, recommends Michael Pollen in the New York Times Magazine in January 2007. Fun foods like blue yogurt, cheese puffs, "fruit" snacks, non-dairy creamer and energy bars do not fall into this category. Fortified products that boast the latest super food should not be the focus of a healthy diet. Seek out the original source of these foods---for example, eat a pomegranate instead of a grape juice drink that claims to have a bit of pomegranate juice in it. If you cannot pronounce most of the ingredients on a food's label, it probably is not part of a healthy diet.
Beverages
Healthy diet plans usually include calorie-free drinks like coffee, tea and water. One-hundred percent fruit juices may occasionally be enjoyed, but choosing whole fruit is preferable because it is more satisfying, lower in calorie and provides fiber notes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alcohol may be enjoyed in moderation on many healthy diet plans. Soft drinks, "juice" cocktails, energy drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages should be avoided as they contribute to weight gain, tooth decay and provide no nutrition.
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