Carbohydrates (starchy foods)
Starchy foods such as bread, rice, pasta and potatoes are essential in a healthy diet they contain carbohydrates, which are an essential source of energy.
In a healthy meal, starchy foods should make up around a third of everything we eat. That means we should base our meals on these foods, wholegrain pasta, bread and rice etc are much healthier as they contain fibre also known as roughage this is also essential as it helps keep healthy bowl movements. Carbohydrates should make up a third of our daily diet.
Fruits and Vegetables
Fruit and vegetables are a vital source of vitamins and minerals and it's advised that we eat five portions of them a day. Fruit and vegetables should make up a third of our daily diet.
5-A-DAY
There is so much variety with fruit and vegetables, eating 5 portions of fruit or vegetables a day, these can be either tinned frozen or dried, a few reasons for eating your five a day are, they can maintain a healthy weight they are packed with vitamins and minerals they are an excellent source of fibre they can help reduce the risk of hear disease and some cancers.
Protein
Protein can be found in meat fish eggs and beans; this food group is needed for growth and repair of damaged tissue. We should eat around 15% of these different foods a day; Fish is a very important source of protein people who eat two portions or more a week of oily fish such as sardines, mackerel, herring and salmon are at lower risk of heart disease. That's because oily fish contain high levels of a 'good fat' called omega-3.
Fats
Fats and sugar are good sources of energy for the body. But when people eat too much of them they consume more energy than we burn, meaning the body will store the unused energy and store it as fat meaning people will put on weight.
Dairy
Cheese milk and yogurt are a good source of calcium the body stores more than 99 percent of its calcium in the bones and teeth to help make and keep them strong. The rest is throughout the body in blood.
Vitamins and Minerals
Vitamins and minerals are substances that are found in foods we eat. The body needs them to work properly, so it can grow and develop just like it should. When it comes to vitamins, each one has a special role to play. For example:
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Vitamin D in milk helps your teeth and .
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Vitamin A in carrots helps you at night.
- Vitamin C in oranges helps your body heal and repair
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B vitamins are found in green vegetables help your body make and energy.
