Healthy eating - drink lots of clean, safe water

Guidelines for Healthy Eating

The first group of guidelines provide general messages to promote a healthy lifestyle:

Enjoy a variety of foods.
Be active!
Drink lots of clean, safe water.

The next group of guidelines help to plan good mixed meals:

Make starchy foods part of most meals.
Eat plenty of vegetables and fruit every day.
Eat dry beans, split peas, lentils and soya regularly.
Fish, chicken, lean meat or eggs could be eaten daily.
Have milk, maas and yoghurt every day.
Use fat sparingly; choose vegetable oils rather than hard fats.

The following guidelines give messages about the use of foods that are commonly used but can be harmful when too much is used.

Use salt and foods high in salt sparingly.
Use sugar and food and drinks high in sugar sparingly.

Drink lots of clean, safe water

Water is essential for life. Water is lost through the kidneys, the bowels, the skin and the lungs. Most of these losses occur without us knowing about it. Water that is lost must be replaced by liquids from food and drinks.

Children and adults need about 6 - 8 glasses
of liquid a day;
most of that should be from water
and drinks made with tap water.
There are no health benefits to ‘binge drinking’ water;
when excess water is consumed
it will be excreted as urine.

Drink clean, safe water every day as recommended.
Some water may be taken as tea or coffee; if sugar is added, use it sparingly.
Keep a water bottle close by during the day; you will drink more water when it is easily available.
Drink extra water in hot weather and when you are very active.
Limit the number of drinks you have that are high in sugars, this includes fruit juice, sports drinks, energy drinks and cold drinks.