CULINARY ART NOTES

1.1. The balance of good health.

There are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ foods – it is the overall balance of the diet that matters. How people choose to put together meals and snacks with drinks will determine whether their style of eating is healthy or not. In practice – as noted above – this means having a variety of foods, basing meals on starchy foods and eating at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. The balance to strive for is illustrated in a nationally recognized model (see Figure 1.1), which emphasises that people should consume:

• more starchy foods (e.g. cereals, breads, pasta, potatoes, rice)

• more fruit and vegetables (aiming for five portions per day)

• moderate amounts of food from the milk and dairy, and meat, fish and alternative proteins groups – as a guideline, two to three portions from each group per day

• very small amounts of foods containing fats and sugars, and drinks containing sugars, selecting lower-fat options where possible; in addition, foods that are high in salt should be restricted.

Further information

Information on the portions of different types of foods that make up a healthy diet is given in the Balance of Good Health leaflet, which is available from the Food Standards Agency (FSA). It can be downloaded as a PDF file from the FSA’s website at: www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/bghbooklet.pdf. Translating this into practice means:

• bigger portions of starchy foods, vegetables and fruit with meals

• getting more energy (kcals) from starchy carbohydrate and less from fatty and sugary

foods

• there is scope for the occasional treat

• aiming to achieve this balance over a period of days, not necessarily at every meal

• often making very small changes to favourite meals.