Healthy Eating Guidelines

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Healthy Eating Guidelines Diet has long been recognised as an essential factor in maintaining a healthy body. It can be a confusing area. In an effort to minimise confusion and to maintain a consistent message to the public about what healthy eating is, the UK government has determined the following: Eight Guidelines for a Healthy Diet (Food Standards Agency, 2001, p.2) Enjoy your food. Eat a variety of different foods. Eat the right amount to be a healthy weight. Eat plenty of foods rich in starch and fibre. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Don't eat too many foods that contain a lot of fat. Don't have sugary foods and drinks too often. If you drink alcohol, drink sensibly. Following these guidelines is a good start to ensuring a healthy diet. A variety of different foods must be eaten for the body to obtain enough proteins. Proteins are responsible for growth, maintenance and repair of the body. High quality proteins are found in animal sourced foods such as eggs, dairy products, meat, poultry and fish. A protein comprises of different amino acids (of which there are 20), linked together in a certain sequence. There are billions of possible different combinations, each producing a different protein, with a specific function. Our bodies can synthesise 12 of these amino acids. The remaining 8 however, must be eaten in our diet. These are known as Essential Amino Acids. People with a limited diet, i.e. vegans and vegetarians, find it harder to obtain these EAA's. Although protein can be found in other foods such as soya, rice, maize, wheat and nuts, it is a lower quality. If our bodies are missing one EEA, any protein that contains it cannot be made. In prolonged deficiency this becomes serious. Barasi (2003, p.59) states “If an individual fails to eat sufficient amounts of protein, the body's own structural proteins are

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