Variations on a basic healthy diet plan serve to help you lose, maintain or gain weight or broaden your nutritional profile. Get your doctor's help in adjusting an average 2,000-calorie plan or emphasizing certain nutrients, such as iron or calcium. Then, choose foods from the best sources within each of the five food groups. Rotating your selections within this framework will offer complete nutrition and satisfy your changing tastes.
Grain Foods
Cereal brands alone provide endless variety in this group, but a healthy diet should include those with comparatively less sugar and more fiber. This choice takes advantage of whole-grain foods' naturally strong fiber, vitamin and mineral content as well as cereal's iron and vitamin B enrichment. Additional healthy grain foods include whole-wheat breads and pastas, corn tortillas, brown rice, barley and oatmeal.
Dairy Foods
The calories and fat in dairy products make them ideal foods for weight-management diets. Two-percent milk has 122 calories; one-percent has 102 calories; and nonfat skim has 83 calories, per 1 cup. To lose or maintain weight, the American Heart Association recommends 1-percent or fat-free milk. Low-fat yogurt and reduced-fat cheese join milk as healthy sources of calcium and other nutrients.
Protein Options
Like dairy products, protein foods contain variable fat and calories that can help you make choices geared toward your particular weight goals. Fish and cooked dry beans represent lower-calorie and lower-fat protein sources. Beef, pork, lamb and poultry have moderate to higher calories and fat. High-calorie meats contain the greatest amounts of detrimental saturated fat and should be avoided or eaten occasionally.
Vegetables
Most vegetables benefit most types of diets. Their dietary fiber, low calories and wide-ranging vitamin and mineral contents fill in the gaps in your nutritional intake. The USDA suggests eating a variety or green, orange and red vegetables for the greatest nutrient density. Healthy choices include broccoli, spinach, sweet potatoes, carrots, tomatoes and red peppers.
Fruits
Fruits, other than high-fat avocados, are appropriate for most diets as well, including those prescribed to combat iron deficiency. Vitamin C aids the body's absorption of iron, while the other antioxidants and fiber in fruits protect you from chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease and satisfy weight-loss dieters on less food. These and other nutrients are common to oranges, berries, melons, papayas, pineapples, kiwis, apples, pears, grapes and other fruits. Keep calories in a healthy range by choosing 1/2-cup servings of unsweetened fresh, frozen or canned fruits and by eating smaller 1-oz. amounts of dried fruits.
References
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Appendix F: Calculate the Percent Daily Value for the Appropriate Nutrients; March 2011
- MyPyramid.gov: Food Groups
- American Heart Association; How Do I Follow a Healthy Diet?; August 2010
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Dietary Guidelines for Americans; December 2010
- MedlinePlus: Dietary Fiber
- USDA: Nutrient Database
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