A healthy diet is essential for staying well, and for keeping many illnesses at bay. The Balance of Good Health plate below) shows the types of foods and the different amounts you need to eat for a well-balanced diet.
• Don't eat too much fat, especially food high in saturated fat. Choose low fat foods like low fat spreads and semi-skimmed milk. Grill rather than fry your food.
• Eat fish at least twice a week. Choose oily fish (e.g. salmon, trout, sardines, mackerel, pilchards) once a week.
• Starchy foods like bread, other cereals and potatoes should form the main part of your meals. Choose wholemeal or brown versions when possible.
• Eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables a day, and eat a wide variety of them. They can be fresh, frozen, canned, dried or as juice (only one serving as juice counts towards the five).
• Don't eat sugary, fatty foods like chocolate, sweets, cakes and biscuits too often.
• Eat less salt. Cut down on salty foods like crisps, bacon, and tinned and packet sauces. Use less salt in cooking, and flavour your foods with herbs, spices and black pepper.
• Eat a wide variety of foods to ensure that you enjoy a healthy diet.
| 1 serving of fruit or vegetables is equal to:
l piece of medium-sized fruit 1 glass (150ml) of fruit juice 1 dessert bowl full of salad 2 tablespoonfuls of vegetables. |
Alcohol and your health.
For men over 40 years, and women who have been through the menopause,
a moderate alcohol intake - 1 to 2 units per day - may protect against
risk of heart disease. But, if you regularly drink more than you should,
your chance of having health problems (e.g. heart disease, liver damage,
and mouth and throat cancers) increases. Men should drink no more than
3-4 units of alcohol a day, while women should drink no more than 2-3 units
a day.
| 1 unit of alcohol is equal to:
• 100 ml (one srnall glass) of wine or • 50 ml (one measure) of sherry or • 25 ml (one tot) of spirit or • 300 ml half a pint) of normal strength beer. Remember, we often pour more generous measures at home. |
What the Label Tells You
Energy
Energy is the first nutrient in the panel. Our bodies need fuel
for everyday life, and the "energy" value tells us how much fuel the product
provides. This is measured in two ways: kilocalories (kcal), popularly
referred to as "Calories"; and kilojoules (kJ), a term widely used internationally.
A man needs, on average, 2500 Calories a day; a woman 2000. As you can
see from the label, a typical 210g serving of Heinz Baked Beans will give
you 158 of those Calories.
Protein
Protein is important for growth and for maintaining body tissues
such as muscle and blood, which are constantly being renewed. The protein
we need is easily obtained from everyday foods such as meat, fish, milk,
cheese, eggs, beans, peas, lentils, bread and cereals. Baked Beans are a valuable component of the diet. One serving contains
more protein than a glass of milk or an egg, and provides about one sixth
of the protein an adult needs each day.
Carbohydrate & Sugars
Carbohydrate is a major component of the food we eat, and is a primary
source of energy (fuel) for the body. There are two main forms of carbohydrate:
starch and sugars.Pasta, bread, cereals, rice, potatoes, and beans are all good sources
of starchy carbohydrate.
Sugars
This is a very general term for the different sugars you consume
each day. For example, there's sucrose (normal table sugar) glucose and
fructose (in fruit) and lactose (in milk). Our labels state the total sugars content from all sugar types -
not just the added sugar. The amount of sugar we add to recipes is kept to the minimum needed
to produce an acceptable flavour, and has been reduced in many products
in recent years. The total sugars content of Heinz Baked Beans is 12.6g
per serving - not much when one considers that we consume 91g/day of total
sugars on average.
Fat and Saturates
A certain amount of fat in the diet is necessary to provide vitamins
A, D and E, as well as essential fatty acids. Fat also provides energy.
However, most of us eat too much fat. Guideline Daily Amounts for adults
of normal weight are 95g for men and 70g for women.
Saturates
When it comes to healthy eating, there's fat and there's fat. Fats
are mixtures of saturates, monounsaturates and polyunsaturates. The fat
we should all try to reduce is saturates. Saturates mostly come from animal
fats such as meat and meat products, milk, butter and cheese. Monounsaturates
and polyunsaturates predominate in vegetable fats, such as olive oil and
sunflower oil.
Labels show you both the total fat and saturates contents. Guideline
Daily Amounts for saturates, for adults of normal weight, are 30g for men
and 20g for women. You can see from the Heinz Baked Beans label that this
recipe is low in both fat and saturates.
Guideline Daily Amounts*
Each Day Women Men
Calories 2000 2500
Fat 70g 95g
Saturates 20g 30g
*Official Government Figures for average adults of normal weight.
If you eat more or fewer calories, adjust the fat proportionally.
Fibre Also known as 'roughage', fibre plays an important part in maintaining the health of the digestive system. It is found in cereals, nuts, fruits, vegetables and pulses such as beans. Indeed, Heinz Baked Beans give you more fibre per serving than most other foods, one serving providing almost half the daily fibre you need.
Sodium A distant memory, perhaps, from chemistry lessons at school: salt is made up of sodium and chloride. Sodium is something doctors like us to eat less of, particularly for those who have high blood pressure. Our labels give the total sodium content. Sodium comes mainly from added salt, although sodium is also naturally present in many foods. To get an idea of how much salt is present, multiply the sodium value by 2.5. The amount of salt added to Heinz products is kept to the minimum needed to produce an acceptable flavour, and has been reduced by up to 25% in recent years.
Per Serving (210g): 158 Calories 0.4g Fat
This additional panel was added to the label, highlighting the Calories
and fat per serving, as research has suggested that this is helpful to
consumers trying to build a healthy diet.