A well balanced diet is the key to good health, good looks, vitality, and weight control.

One of the best things we can do to protect our long term health is to reduce our intake of fat. Studies have shown that people who eat a diet containing complex carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, cereals, pasta and rice, as well as more fruit and vegetables are least likely to suffer from certain cancers and heart disease.

So, plan your family’s meals according to nutritional needs and make a shopping list.

The average adult would benefit by:

• Doubling their intake of fruit and vegetables to a minimum of 5 portions per day.

• Eating plenty of fiber and carbohydrates — 6-8 portions per day of bread, cereal, pasta, or rice. These complex carbohydrates will give you energy.

• Limiting meat to 2 portions per day and only eating lean meat.

• Limiting dairy foods to 2-3 portions per day.

• Limiting the intake of fat and oil. Only have a teaspoon of oil in salad. Check how much oil is used weekly in your household.

• Limit the intake of sugar and foods containing sugar to 1 portion per day. Try to cut out sugar from tea and coffee, as that would speed up weight loss immediately.

• Limit salt to half a teaspoon per day.

• Drink at least 2 liters of water per day. Your body loves water. Carry it everywhere with you.

Portion Sizes

Many people eat the right foods, but may be eating too much. Your food on your plate should be no more than you could carry in two hands.If you are trying to lose weight, make it a rule never to have second helpings. Buffets can make life difficult for those losing weight, as there is so much variety and a great deal of temptation to try everything.

Changing Eating Habits

Start gradually to make changes to your eating habits so as not to give your body a sudden shock. If you gradually make small changes in your eating habits they soon become part of your natural eating routine and you don’t feel deprived. Any small healthy change in your eating habits is good for you.

To work out your own balanced diet, e-mail for a free copy of my Healthy Eating Guide to: [email protected]

Low Fat Recipe of the Week

Greek Salad

Serves 6

Ingredients

500g Spinach leaves, washed and torn into pieces, tough stems discarded

340g Mixed green salad

2 Tomatoes, cut into wedges

1 Cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced

1 Red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

110g Pitted black olives, thinly sliced

110g Feta cheese, crumbled

180ml (190g) Fat-free Italian dressing

50g Cheese & garlic croutons

Method

Combine first 7 ingredients in a salad bowl and toss. Pour dressing over salad just before serving. Season with salt and pepper to taste and toss. Serve with croutons.

Ask Alva

I have often heard that we should take care to read food labels carefully, but I am not sure what to look for, and why. Can you advise me? Daniel D.

The two main culprits to look out for are sugar and salt. When checking labels for sugar content, a good rule of thumb is that, per 100g food (or per serving if a serving is less than 100g), 2g of sugar or less is low, whilst 10g or more of sugar is considered high. By cutting back on sugar you may decrease your future risk of suffering from type 2 diabetes. The recommended total daily intake of salt for an adult is less than 6g a day. If the salt content is listed as ‘sodium’ it needs to be multiplied by 2.5 to give actual salt content. As a guide, products with 0.1g sodium or less per 100g of food is low, whilst anything with 0.5g of sodium or more is high. Reducing your salt intake below 6g a day will significantly lower your chances of having a heart attack or stroke.