Australian Dietary..... Do you know what foods are best to put on your plate? Or how much you should eat and how often?
The Australian Dietary Guidelines provide up-to-date advice about the types and recommended number of serves of the different foods that we need to eat for good nutrition and health. These are shown in the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating.
The Guidelines are developed by the National Health and Medical Research Council, working with independent experts in nutrition. They are based on the best available science about the types and amounts of foods and the dietary patterns that are thought to promote health and wellbeing, and reduce your risk of diet-related conditions and chronic disease.
Eat a variety of foods
Healthy eating means eating a wide variety of foods from each of the 5 major food groups, in the amounts recommended.
Eating a variety of foods from the 5 major food groups provides a range of nutrients to the body, promotes good health and can help reduce the risk of disease - as well as keeping your diet interesting with different flavours and textures.
Many of the foods that often feature regularly in modern diets do not form part of the 5 food groups. These foods, sometimes referred to as 'junk' foods, 'discretionary choices' or 'occasional foods' can be enjoyed sometimes, but should not feature regularly in a healthy diet. Fats and oils are high in kilojoules (energy) but necessary for a healthy diet in small amounts.
No matter where you're starting, it's easy to make little changes to bring your eating closer in line with the Australian Dietary Guidelines. Just focus on eating foods from the 5 major food groups and reducing your intake of occasional foods.
5 major food groups
The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating groups the foods that should make up our daily diets into 5 major food groups.
The 5 food groups are:
vegetables and legumes or beans
fruit
lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds, legumes or beans
grain (cereal) foods, mostly wholegrain or high cereal fibre varieties
milk, yoghurt, cheese or alternatives, mostly reduced fat.
Foods are grouped together because they provide similar amounts of key nutrients. For example, key nutrients of the milk, yoghurt, cheese and alternatives group include calcium and protein, while the fruit group is a good source of vitamins, especially vitamin C.
Eating a varied, well-balanced diet means eating a variety of foods from each of the 5 food groups daily, in the recommended amounts. Because different foods provide different types and amounts of key nutrients, it is important to choose a variety of foods from within each food group. As a bonus, choosing a variety of foods will help to make your meals interesting, so that you don't get bored with your diet.
Occasional foods
Some foods do not fit into the 5 food groups because they are not necessary for a healthy diet. These foods are called 'discretionary choices' (sometimes referred to as 'junk foods') and they should only be eaten occasionally.
They tend to be too high in saturated fat, added sugars, added salt or alcohol, and have low levels of important nutrients like fibre.
These foods and drinks can also be too high in kilojoules (energy). Regularly eating more kilojoules than your body needs will lead to weight gain.
Examples of 'discretionary choices' or occasional foods are:
sweet biscuits, cakes, desserts and pastries
processed meats and fatty, salty sausages, savoury pastries and pies, with a high fat or salt content
takeaway foods such as hot chips, hamburgers and pizza
sweetened condensed milk
alcoholic drinks
ice cream and other ice confections
confectionary and chocolate
commercially fried foods
potato chips, crisps and other fatty and/or salty snack foods including some savoury biscuits
cream, butter and spreads which are high in saturated fats
sugar-sweetened soft drinks and cordials, sports and energy drinks.
It's okay to have some of these foods now and then as an extra treat. But if these foods regularly replace more nutritious and healthier foods in your diet, your risk of developing obesity and chronic disease, such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and some forms of cancer, increases.
Restaurant meals and takeaway foods
Restaurant meals and takeaway foods are often high in saturated fat, added salt, added sugars, and kilojoules.
Think about how often you consume food and drinks prepared outside the home. If you’re doing this regularly, consider cutting back and focusing more on the 5 major food groups. That doesn’t mean you have to stop completely.
Suggestions for reducing saturated fat in takeaway food options include:
Try ordering a takeaway meal without the fries.
Choose bread-based options like wraps, kebabs, souvlaki or hamburgers.
Avoid deep fried and pastry options.
Include extra vegetables and salad.
Choose smaller portions or share with someone else and add a green salad to reduce the kilojoules of the meal.
Limit high fat, high salt sauces and toppings like cheese, fatty meats and mayonnaise – remember, you can ask for less.
Choose tomato-based pasta sauces, rather than cream-based sauces.
Drink plenty of water.
Don’t upsize unless it’s with a side salad.
Fast foods that have relatively low levels of saturated fat and added salt include:
pizzas with less cheese and meat
grilled chicken burgers or wraps
grillHigh sugar foods
Foods and drinks like soft drinks, cordials, biscuits, cakes and confectionary are high in added sugars and high in kilojoules. Sugar itself does not lead to diabetes. But added sugars can cause weight gain and being overweight increases a person’s risk of type 2 diabetes.
Sugar-sweetened drinks are the largest source of sugars in the diets of Australians. There is strong evidence of an association between increasing consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and the development of childhood obesity and tooth decay. That’s why eating foods and drinks with a high sugar content should be limited.
Sugar-free versions are okay to drink sometimes, but sugar-free fizzy drinks are still acidic, which can have a negative effect on bone and dental health. Water is the healthiest drink – try adding a slice of lemon, lime or orange for flavour.
Drink alcohol in moderation
Alcoholic drinks are ‘occasional foods’ according to the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating. Alcohol is high in energy (kilojoules). If you choose to drink alcohol, only drink it in moderation.
To reduce the risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury, healthy men and women should drink no more than 10 standard drinks a week and no more than 4 standard drinks on any one day.
The less you drink, the lower your risk of harm from alcohol.
One standard drink is 375 ml mid-strength beer, 100 ml wine or 30 ml spirits. If you drink more than this, consider reducing the amount. You might go about this by increasing the number of days in the week where you don’t drink alcohol, or alternating your alcoholic drinks with water.
Children and pregnant or breastfeeding women should not drink alcohol.
High-salt foods
Too much salt in the diet has been associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure, which is a known risk factor for heart disease and stroke.
Eating less than 5 g of salt per day (less than a teaspoon a day) is recommended for adults with normal blood pressure. Many Australians consume double this amount each day.
The majority of our salt intake comes from packaged and processed foods we eat every day, like bread, processed meats and soups. Cutting back on takeaway foods will help reduce your salt intake.
Healthy fats
The Australian Dietary include a small allowance for healthy fats each day (around one to 2 tablespoons for adults and less for children).
Consuming unsaturated (healthy) fats in small amounts is an important part of a healthy diet. It helps with:
the absorption of vitamins (A, D, E and K)
reducing your risk of heart disease
lowering your cholesterol levels - if the healthy fats replace saturated (bad) fats in your diet.
There are 2 main types of unsaturated fats:
monounsaturated fats - found in olive and canola oil, avocados, cashews and almonds
polyunsaturated fats, such as:
omega-3 fats - found in oily fish
omega-6 fats - found in safflower and soybean oil, and Brazil nuts.
The best way to include healthy fats in your diet is to replace saturated fat that you may currently be eating (such as butter and cream) with a healthier, unsaturated fat option (such as olive oil or a polyunsaturated margarine).
How much do I need from each food group each day?
How much you need from each food group each day depends on your age, gender and activity levels. The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating outlines how many serves you and your family need each day, and standard serve sizes for foods and drinks.ed, lean meat hamburgers, with no cheese or bacon additions
grilled fish burgers.
Comments