VOICES FROM CARE (CYMRU)
For All Young People Who Are Or Have Been Looked After In Wales

HEALTHY DIET
If you’re concerned about your diet there is one good rule to remember “Enjoy Your Food”. Eating is an important part of every ones life. When deciding what it is your going to eat there will be all sorts of reasons for what you choose not just the nutrients your craving. The taste, smell, colour, and how it looks are all-important. Religion, cost, availability, and the way you live will affect the foods you eat too.

People who are generally healthy with a good diet don’t get ill as much as the rest of us. Their body’s natural defense system will be in tiptop condition fighting all sorts of illnesses before they appear.

For most people the move towards a healthy diet means eating more bread, breakfast cereals, potatoes, pasta and rice, and of course more fruit and vegetables. The problems isn't’t finding food you like because that’s easy, the trick is to change what you eat so you don’t get board with the same old same old. Think variety, the spice of life. So the same good foods you like can be made up lots of different ways, giving you all the nutrients you need while growing, and plenty of different tastes to stop you getting fed up with the same old flavors.
 
USEFUL LINKS
NHS Direct
 
Daily Balance of a Good Health Plate
 
 
 
Its up to you what you buy and what you eat, but above it shows you how to balance all your fatty foods with the good stuff.

Check this out! From a survey of 11,000 People in 4,200 Households their plate looks like this.

 
 
 
 
Break down of above stuff.
 

Bread, Other Cereals and Potatoes 33%


This group includes:
· Bread, Rolls, Chapattis
· Breakfast Cereals, Oats
· Pasta, Noodles
· Rice
· Potato and sweet potatoes
· Dishes made from Mase, Millet and cornmeal (yum yum!)
· Plantains, Green Bananas
· Beans and Lentils


These items should make up the main part of your meal. 33%.
And if you not sure what some of them are it can be good fun cooking weird dishes with different flavors. If you need some ideas give us a shout or if you’ve discovered a taste dish let us know and we can show it to others. (You should at least aim to try any you have not eaten before.)

 

Go ahead have a food adventure and discover something tasty.

 

Fruit and Vegetable 33%


Oi don’t even think of skippin this section.

These can be made to be mega fun even sweet, so when your replacing all that sugar fruit is an easy way of doing it.


This Group Includes:
· All fresh, frozen and canned fruits
· Salad Vegetables
· Beans and Lentils
Try to REMEMBER to eat at least 5 portions a day. Choose some veg, salad and fruit and choose a wide variety. Stuffed peppers are nice with rice and a side salad on your plate nearly always gets eaten as its light and tasty.

Milk and Dairy foods 15%


This Group Includes:
· Milk*
· Cheese*
· Yogurt*
· Fromage Frais*
*Choose lower fat versions when possible.

Meat, Fish and alternatives 12%


This group includes:
· Meat – Beef, Pork, Bacon and Lamb
· Meat Products – Sausages*, Burgers*, Meat Pies
· Poultry – Chicken, Turkey
· Fish – Fresh, Frozen and Canned
· Fish Products – Fish Fingers and Fish Cakes
· Offal – Liver, Kidney
· Eggs
· Beans and Lentils – Baked Beans, Chic Pees and Lentils
· Nut and Nut Products such as Peanut Butter
· Textured Vegetable Protein and other meat alternatives
Choose a variety of products from this group.
*Choose lower fat versions when possible.


Foods containing Fat; Foods containing Sugar. 7%


This group includes foods you should use sparingly, like:
· Butter
· Margarine
· Low fat spreads
· Cooking Oils
· Mayonnaise and oily dressings
And foods you enjoy as treats like:
· Biscuits
· Cakes
· Puddings
· Ice-Cream
· Chocolate
· Sweets
· Crisps
· Sugar
· Sweetened Drinks – pop and squash
 
 

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