Good nutrition can help you achieve good health without having to sacrifice great-tasting food. Eating healthfully can help you work more productively, perform better athletically, maintain or reduce your weight, and dramatically lower your risk for heart disease and certain forms of cancer. To consume a healthy diet, you need to choose foods that provide all the nutrients your body needs without an excess of fat, sugar, or calories.
These guidelines are designed to help people not only get the nutrients they need, but also lead more active lives so they can reduce their risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease and certain forms of cancer. The most current dietary guidelines provide sound, no-nonsense advice to help you build a healthy diet:
• Eat a variety of foods.
• Balance the food you eat with physical activity to maintain or improve your weight.
• Eat plenty of grain products, vegetables, and fruits.
• Limit your intake of fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol.
• Eat only moderate amounts of sugar.
• Limit the amount of salt (sodium) in your diet.