Variety |
Water |
Starchy foods |
Vegetables Fruit |
Beans Lentils Soya |
Fish Chicken Meat Eggs |
Milk Maas Yoghurt |
Fat Oil |
Salt |
Sugar |
Guidelines for Healthy Eating
The first group of guidelines provide general messages to promote a healthy lifestyle:
The next group of guidelines help to plan good mixed meals:
The following guidelines give messages about the use of foods that are commonly used but can be harmful when too much is used.
Fish, chicken, lean meat or eggs could be eaten daily
These foods are popular food choices for many people in South Africa, however these foods do cost more than foods in the other food groups, and should not be used often when the family has a limited budget for food. The guideline explains that foods from this group could be eaten daily – not that they should be eaten daily. The food guide unit serves show that only one option from the list could be included each day.
Cheese is included in this group, but should not be the food type chosen most often. This is because it is high in fat and salt. Organ products from animals, such as liver and kidneys are also part of this food group.
Fish with fatty flesh (pilchards, sardines, mackerel, and salmon) provide omega 3 fatty acids, a nutrient this is found in very few food sources.
Many of these foods also have a high content of fat, most of which is saturated fat. Saturated fat has a negative influence on health, so people are advised to use lean types of meat and to remove fat and skin from chicken.
FOODS | UNIT |
Fish, white | 1 large piece |
Fish, high fat flesh | 1 small piece |
Chicken, no skin | 1 medium breast |
Meat, lean | size palm, slice 10mm |
Eggs, hens | 2 |
Liver, chicken | 3 |
Cheeses, yellow | cube of 30mm / 40g (match box size) |