Healthy Diets and Processed Foods

Processed foods often contain refined sugar, extra salt, and other flavor enhancers. Not only are these potentially unhealthy, but they dull your taste buds to natural flavors. The result? A need to eat more processed foods to get the taste you want, and natural foods that don't taste as good as they should.

They digest in your body so fast that they cause a steep increase in your blood sugar levels, and this can promote weight gain. 

Examples of complex carbohydrates

  • Wholewheat bread
  • Brown rice and pasta
  • Beans
  • Vegetables
  • Fruit

These digest slowly in your body, helping your blood sugar levels stay stable and keeping you feeling full for longer.

Your carbohydrates intake should include lots of fibre as well.  Fibre is found in fruit and vegetable.  It keeps you full for longer, but also maintains a healthy colon.  Most people neglect to eat enough fibre.

1. Protein

The human body needs protein to provide energy and promote growth.  If you do not eat enough protein, your growth will be stunted, and your major organs will be strained.  The best or most complete form of protein comes from meat, chicken, fish, eggs, milk and cheese.  If you are vegetarian, you can get your protein from other sources e.g. rice and beans, but you may have to eat them in greater quantities or combine different sources to get the full benefit.

You do not need as much protein as you do carbohydrates.

2. Fats

There are good fats and bad fats.  You need to minimise your consumption of fats that come from meat, dairy, baked and fried foods.  Fats from nuts, seeds, avocados, and plant oils are good fats, and can be consumed in moderation.  There are also fats from fish which are good for you.  On the whole though, fats should make up only 20-30% of your daily food consumption.

See below for an illustration of the amounts of different types of foods you should be consuming everyday.  Source: Food Standards Agency

More information on healthy diets:

There is much more to say about healthy eating.  See below for a few links to more useful information:

Page Updated: 27 October 2011