| 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:
- 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 milk, maas or yoghurt every day
Milk, maas and yoghurt are the three types of milk products that are important in this food group. The best choices are those types that are low in fat or fat free (skim), and if sweetened have sugar added sparingly.
- Use low fat or skim milk and milk products; this is to lower the amount of saturated fat in the eating plan.
- Use milk and milk products with little or no added sugar.
- Some dairy products are high in fat, and low in the essential nutrients supplied by low fat milk and are not listed in the food guide (e.g. ice cream, milk based frozen dessert).
- Use low fat milk in tea and coffee instead of tea / coffee whitener
| FOODS | UNIT |
| Milk, low fat or skim | 1 cup |
| Maas, low fat | 1 cup |
| Yoghurt, low fat or fat free | 1 tub, 100ml |