NUTR TI N
A Guide to a Healthier Lifestyle
By: Carla Palermo
In order to live and a long and
healthy life, one must have a healthy
diet. Someone’s health is their own
choice based on their personal lifestyle
choices. Tobacco use, alcohol use and
nutritional choices are all lifestyle habits
by personal choice. Chronic diseases
are connected with all of these choices
and can be avoidable. According to the
dietary guidelines for Americans, there
are four major topic areas:
 Balance calories to manage
weight
 Increase intakes of certain
nutrient-dense foods
 Reduce intakes of certain foods
and food components
 Build a healthy eating pattern
According to the
healthy people 2010, it
was recommended to
increase the fruit,
vegetable and whole
grain intake. Your body
uses energy that
comes from the sun;
there are six essential
nutrients, three of which provide energy,
which everyone should consume in
order to have a healthy diet. The six
essential nutrients are water,
carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins
and minerals.
Carbohydrates have 4 calories per
gram, fats have 9 calories per gram and
proteins have 4 calories per gram; all of
which are energy-yielding nutrients.
However, vitamins and minerals provide
no energy, but some are essential. All
six of these nutrients are essential for a
healthy diet and should be eaten in their
natural state. We should be eating
whole foods such as fruit and
vegetables rather than fast, processed
foods. The darker and more colorful the
food is, the better it is.
There are five characteristics of a
healthy diet that will help one maintain a
healthy lifestyle:
1. Adequacy- providing all the
essential nutrients, fiber and
energy in amounts sufficient to
maintain health and body weight
2. Balance- providing foods of a
number of types in proportion to
each other; foods rich in some
nutrients do not crowd out of the
diet foods that are rich in other
nutrients
3. Calorie control- control of energy
intake; diet plan
4. Moderation- providing
constituents within set limits, not
to excess
5. Variety- providing a wide
selection of foods
Eating is an intentional
act and people choose
food based off of many
reasons. There are
cultural and social
meanings such a
vegetarian or omnivore.
Factors such as taste, price,
convenience, advertising, habit, social
pressure and more can drive a food
choice. Sadly, the least common reason
why people choose the certain foods
1
NUTR TI N
they eat is the nutrition and health
benefits.
The USDA, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, groups foods in six different
categories. There are fruits, grains,
vegetables, protein and dairy. There are
also oils, which are not exactly a food
group, but they contribute vitamin E and
essential fatty acids. According to the
food pyramid the recommended daily
intake is:
1 cup of fruit
1 ounce of grains
1 cup of vegetables
1 ounce of protein
1 cup of dairy
1 teaspoon of oils
It is clear that eating the correct
foods is not the only thing that
constitutes a healthy lifestyle. Exercising
and making the correct decisions can
help lead someone to a long and
healthy life. Along with exercising, the
correct water intake is appropriate as
well. Someone should drink about 1.5
liters a day to stay hydrated. Although
all diseases cannot be prevented, there
are things we can do to help prevent
some of the many that we are faced
with.
2
NUTR TI N
Name of Site
United States
Department of
Agriculture
URL
www.usda.gov
Academy of
www.eatright.org/n
Nutrition and
cbd.html
Dietetics
National Center
for Nutrition &
Dietetics
National
www.ncahf.org
Council Against
Health Fraud
Federal Trade
Commission
www.ftc.org
Centers for
www.cdc.gov/nutri
Disease Control tion
and Prevention
General Content
Audience
Rating
Describes its main functions,
and with a collection of links
on current agricultural news
and research.
Someone who is ***
interested on
current
agricultural
news.
The world’s largest
organization of food and
nutrition professionals.
A person who is ****
aspiring a
healthy diet.
A non-profit, US-based
organization that focuses on
health fraud.
Someone who is **
concerned with
the correct food
choices.
Administers antitrust and
consumer protection
legislation in pursuit of free
and fair competition in the
marketplace.
A consumer
**
looking for
protection
against what
they are eating.
United States federal agency Someone who is ***
under the Department of
trying to prevent
Health and Human Services.
diseases.
Mayo Clinic
www.mayoclinic.c
om
Clinical experts provide
current medical information
and news on health topics.
Nutrition Facts
www.nutritionfacts
.org
The latest in nutrition
research.
3
A person
interested on
current health
topics.
**
Someone who is ***
interested in
healthy eating.
NUTR TI N
4