In general, healthy foods include those rich in nutrients with few "empty" calories from fats and sugars. Selecting healthy foods in your diet can be difficult, especially over the long term. Most people struggle with maintaining a balanced diet and eating mostly recommended healthy foods. You can incorporate healthier foods into your diet by understanding which foods are the healthiest and which foods you should avoid. Before you make any significant changes to your daily diet, talk with your physician or a registered dietitian.
Types
Recommended healthy foods are part of each food group, including grains or carbohydrates, vegetables, fruits, dairy products, proteins, fats and even sweets. The carbohydrate group includes healthy foods like whole-grain breads, cereals, pastas and rice, while the dairy group includes fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products. Fresh and cooked vegetables belong to the vegetable group, while the fruit group includes fresh fruits and unsweetened fruit juices. The protein group includes lean meats, poultry, fish, nuts, eggs and beans. The fats group focuses on foods containing unsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids. Sweets can include both sugary foods and beverages like soda.
Identification
You should eat a variety of different foods from each food group to get the nutrients that your body requires, because no single type of food can provide the required nutrients. The fruit and vegetable groups have few limitations, because most fruits and vegetables are healthy and nutrient-rich. The carbohydrate group emphasizes the healthier food choices of breads, pastas and cereals made from whole grains that contain no saturated or trans fat as well as white and brown rice. The protein group encourages healthy foods like beans and lean meats while limiting most fatty animal-derived foods that are high in cholesterol and saturated fats. For dairy, focus on fat-free and low-fat milk, cheeses, yogurts and other products, instead of full-fat or whole-milk dairy.
Misconceptions
One of the biggest misconceptions regarding a healthy diet is that the recommended healthy foods contain no fat whatsoever. Your body does need a certain amount of fat, but you should consume the right types of fats in moderation. Avoid saturated fats found in fast foods, hydrogenated shortening, palm and coconut oils and cocoa butter, as well as animal-derived foods like butter, lard, fatty meats, poultry skins and whole-milk dairy products, warns the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Also avoid trans fatty acids or "trans fats" found in margarine, fried foods, processed snack foods and vegetable shortening. Instead, you can include in your diet small amounts of "healthy" fats, such as omega-3 fatty acids in fatty fish, monounsaturated fats found in nuts and avocados and polyunsaturated fats found in sesame, safflower, sunflower, soybean and corn oils.
Considerations
You may need to adjust the types of recommended healthy foods in your diet if you have certain dietary restrictions, such as food allergies. Also, you may need to further reduce the sodium and cholesterol in the foods that you eat if you have or are at risk for cardiovascular disease, according to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Watch your carbohydrate intake and stay away from sweets and sugars if you have diabetes. The recommended health foods may also need adjustment if you're vegetarian or vegan. You may need to eliminate dairy products, meats, fish, eggs and poultry while increasing your intake of certain vegetables, beans and legumes to meet your nutritional needs. As the general recommended healthy diet isn't right for everyone, seek advice from your health care provider and a registered dietitian on the healthy foods that are right for you.
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