Your diet

A healthy diet is beneficial to your health.

Benefits of a healthy diet

It makes sense to put fresh, natural food into your body. A healthy diet can:

• Increase your energy levels and vitality
• Help you maintain a healthy body weight
• Improve your sleep patterns
• Help you gain greater concentration levels

Fruit and vegetables

During your WorkHealth Check you were asked how many servings of fruit and vegetables you eat each day. Scientific research shows that if you regularly eat lots of fruit and vegetables (two servings of fruit and five servings of vegetables each day), you have a lower risk of:

• Type 2 diabetes
• Stroke
• Heart (cardiovascular) disease – when fruits and vegetables are eaten as food, not taken as supplements
• Cancer – some forms of cancer, later in life
• High blood pressure (hypertension).

Fruit and vegetables are an important part of your daily diet. They contain vitamins and minerals that can help to keep you healthy. Vegetables and fruit contain phytochemicals, or ‘plant chemicals’, biologically active substances can help to protect you from some diseases.

Aim for two fruit and five vegetables a day

Most Australians eat only half the amount of fruit and vegetables recommended for good health. Adults need to eat at least two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables each day.

What is a serve?

Fruit - One serve of fruit is 150 grams of fresh fruit or

• 1 medium sized piece (e.g. apple)
• 2 smaller pieces (e.g. apricots)
• 1 cup canned or chopped fruit
• 1½ tablespoons dried fruit (e.g. sultanas)
• 4 dried apricot halves

Vegetables - one serve of vegetables is 75 grams or

• ½ cup cooked vegetables
• 1 cup salad vegetables
• ½ cup cooked legumes (dried beans, peas or lentils)

Keep fat to a minimum

Adult diets should be low in fat, especially saturated fat. Saturated fat is the main fat in animal products and is more easily deposited as fat tissue. Saturated fat can also cause increased cholesterol.

Reduce high kilojoule foods

The total amount of high energy (kilojoule) foods you eat may be as important as the total amount of fat in your diet. To reduce the amount of high energy food in your diet, increase your fruit and vegetable intake. This will give you essential nutrients, help to make you feel ‘full’ and reduce the amount of fat in your diet.

A healthy diet contains a variety of foods

Tips on healthy eating

• Eat a variety of vegetables every day
• Eat wholegrain bread, high fibre cereal, brown rice and wholemeal pasta
• Eat two pieces of fruit each day
• Eat a variety of legumes (such as chickpeas and lentils)
• Eat one or two serves of fish per week
• Choose reduced fat milk, cheese and yoghurt
• Trim fat from meat and skin from poultry
• Choose foods low in salt
• Limit sugar intake
• Use only a small amount of oil and margarine in food preparation and cooking
• Drink plenty of water.

Note: Dietary requirements will vary according to age, sex, fitness levels, pregnant women, breastfeeding women and children.

For more information and advice

For more information contact:

• Contact ‘Go for your life’ on 1300 73 98 99 or visit goforyourlife.vic.gov.au

You can also download the Healthy Eating Fact Sheet for more information and tips on healthy eating.