It's easy to feel bombarded with information about the latest healthy eating trend or most talked-about ingredient. But good nutrition is really about consistently choosing healthy foods and drinks. With healthy eating patterns, it is possible to enjoy foods and beverages that reflect your preferences, cultural traditions, and budget.
Healthy eating emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy products, and proteins. Dairy recommendations include low-fat or fat-free milk, lactose-free milk, and fortified soy beverages. Other plant-based drinks do not have the same nutritional properties as animal-based milk and soy drinks. Protein recommendations include seafood, lean meats and poultry, eggs, legumes (beans, peas, and lentils), soy products, nuts, and seeds.
Most Americans need to adjust their eating patterns to increase their intake of dietary fiber, calcium, vitamin D, and potassium, according to the Dietary
Increase your fiber intake
Fiber helps maintain digestive health and makes us feel fuller for longer. Fiber also helps control blood sugar and reduces cholesterol levels. Fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds are good sources of fiber.
To increase fiber, try this:
- Slice raw vegetables to use as quick snacks. Storing celery and carrots in water in the refrigerator will keep them crispy longer.
- Start your day with a whole grain like oatmeal or food made with whole grains like bulgur or teff. For even more fiber, top your cereal with berries, pumpkin seeds, or almonds.
- Add half a cup of beans or lentils to your salad to add fiber, texture, and flavor.
- Enjoy whole fruit, perhaps a pear, apple, slice of melon or passion fruit with one of your meals or as dessert.
Increase calcium and vitamin D
Together, calcium and vitamin D provide optimal bone health. Our bodies can make vitamin D from sunlight, but some people may have difficulty producing enough vitamin D, and too much sun exposure can increase the risk of skin cancer. While very few foods naturally contain vitamin D, several foods and beverages are fortified with this essential nutrient. See foods that are sources of calcium and vitamin D.
To increase your calcium and vitamin D intake, try the following:
- Drink a fortified milk drink with your meals.
- When packing your lunch, include a package of salmon or a can of sardines once a week. Salmon and sardines with bones have more calcium than salmon and sardines without bones.
- Include spinach, kale, bok choy, mushrooms, and taro root in your vegetable dishes.
- Look for foods fortified with calcium and vitamin D. Soy beverages, soy yogurt, orange juice, and some whole grains may have these additional nutrients. Just make sure they don't include added sugars!
Add more potassium
Potassium helps the kidneys, heart, muscles, and nerves function properly. Not getting enough potassium can increase blood pressure, deplete calcium in your bones, and increase your risk of kidney stones.
People with chronic kidney disease and people taking certain medications may have too much potassium in their blood. But most people in the United States need more potassium in their eating patterns. See foods that are sources of potassium
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