{"id":2144,"date":"2020-04-07T12:18:46","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T11:18:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/stem\/?p=2144"},"modified":"2020-04-08T12:27:17","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T11:27:17","slug":"world-health-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/stem\/2020\/04\/07\/world-health-day\/","title":{"rendered":"World Health Day – the Eatwell Plate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

To celebrate World Health Day, we have a guest post from Jenny, a Dentistry Student at Newcastle University <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Eatwell<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This is the\nEatwell Plate. It is a handy visual guide showing exactly how much each food\ngroup should contribute to what we eat on a daily basis to maintain a healthy\nand balanced diet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plate is\ndivided into the 5 main food groups we should consume every day:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Fruit and vegetables<\/strong> \u2013 40% of what you eat in a day.<\/li>
  2. Pasta, potatoes, rice, bread and other starchy carbohydrates <\/strong>\u2013 38% of daily food intake.<\/li>
  3. Protein sources<\/strong> such as beans, eggs, meat, pulses and fish \u2013 12% of daily food intake.<\/li>
  4. Milk and dairy<\/strong> (including dairy alternatives) \u2013 8% of daily food intake.<\/li>
  5. Oils and spreads <\/strong>\u2013 1% of daily food intake.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    You may have noticed that these percentages only add up\nto 99%. This is because the final 1% is allocated for high fat, salt and sugar\nfoods such as fizzy drinks or chocolate bars. These food stuffs should rarely\nbe consumed and only in small amounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As well as that, we should be drinking 6-8 glasses of fluids every day<\/strong>. This includes water, low fat and low sugar milk, and fruit juice that is not from concentrate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The balance displayed on the Eatwell Plate does not have to be achieved in every meal of the day but should be attained for what you eat overall in a day. With that said, let’s take a more in depth look at the food groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Fruit and vegetables<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    You should always try to eat 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day and familiarise yourself with how much of each fruit or vegetable contribute to one portion (e.g. 7 strawberries = 1 portion). This can be in the form of fresh, frozen, tinned or juiced fruit (although juiced or fruit smoothies should be limited to 150ml\/day because they have higher sugar content than fresh fruit). Fruit and veg is a vital part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle because they contain a variety of vital minerals, vitamins and nutrients. For example, broccoli, spinach and lots of other green vegetables are excellent sources of vitamin C, great for maintaining strong bones, joints and to boost your immune system. Also, parsnips, Brussels sprouts and bananas are great sources of potassium, which helps to maintain healthy heart muscles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Pasta, potatoes, rice, bread and other starchy carbohydrates<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Every meal should be built on a starchy carbohydrate\nbase, with wholegrain versions of pasta, rice and bread chosen when possible.\nStarchy carbohydrates are a very important source of energy because our bodies\nbreak down carbohydrates into sugars which are then converted into energy. They\nare also a source of calcium, iron, vitamin B and fibre, which aids digestion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Protein<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Protein is very important in building muscle strength and facilitating growth and repair in our bodies. To achieve correct protein intake, each week you should have two portions of fish, including one portion of oily fish, such as salmon or mackerel. This is because oily fish provides out bodies with the fatty acid, omega-3 and vitamin D, which help maintain a healthy heart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Protein from red meats should be limited to less than 70g\nper day because high consumption of red and processed meats could increase risk\nof developing cancer in older individuals. However, red meats are an excellent\nsource of iron which increases our blood\u2019s ability to transport oxygen allowing\nus to be more active.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Milk and dairy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Dairy products and dairy alternatives (such as soya, oat\nor almond milk) are excellent sources of calcium which helps maintain strong\nbones and teeth. Dairy products include cheese, milk and yoghurt, although you\nshould always pick products which are low in fat and sugar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Oils and spreads<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    When it comes to choosing what to put on your toast in\nthe morning, it is always better to use a spread that contains unsaturated\nfats, such as vegetable, olive and sunflower oils. The same applies to cooking\noils. Unsaturated fats help protect our hearts and reduce cholesterol. Food\nstuffs with high fat content should be rarely consumed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Finally, a few handy tips for a healthy and balanced\nmeal:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Everything in moderation \u2013 eating the\nrecommended portions of each food group outlined by the Eatwell plate, will\nensure you get all the vital daily vitamins, nutrients and minerals you need.\nCutting out whole food groups (like carbohydrates) rather than improve your\nhealth will actually result in poor health effects such as tiredness and\nstomach upsets.<\/li>
    2. Make your plate every colour of the rainbow \u2013\nif your meal looks too beige or too much of one colour, you won\u2019t be getting\nall the necessary micronutrients you need.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      In the spirit of World Health Day, why don\u2019t you take the\nopportunity to maintain a healthy, balanced diet and make your plate and\nEatwell Plate. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      To celebrate World Health Day, we have a guest post from Jenny, a Dentistry Student at Newcastle University This is the Eatwell Plate. It is a handy visual guide showing exactly how much each food group should contribute to what we eat on a daily basis to maintain a healthy and balanced diet. The plate … Continue reading World Health Day – the Eatwell Plate<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3103,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[434,430,431,432,429,433],"class_list":["post-2144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-dentistry","tag-diet","tag-eatwell-plate","tag-health","tag-nutrition","tag-world-health-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/stem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/stem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/stem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/stem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/stem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2144"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/stem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2149,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/stem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2144\/revisions\/2149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/stem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/stem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/stem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}