Choosing Healthy Foods

A well-balanced diet is crucial to good health. Your body needs a regular supply of nutrients to grow, replace worn-out tissue and provide energy. How much of each nutrient you need each day is called the recommended daily allowance (RDA), or the dietary reference intake (DRI). You can get these nutrients from food or supplements, but most should come from the foods you eat.

Although supplements cannot meet all of your dietary needs, some people do need them. You may take a multivitamin if you can’t eat all the nutrients you need. Too much of some vitamins, such as vitamin A and selenium, can be harmful. Others may not work well with your medications. Some medicines may affect your nutritional needs or appetite. Tell your doctor if you use any prescription drugs or over-the-counter vitamins or herbs.

To be sure that your diet provides enough nutrients, you need to know the nutritional values of different foods. The U.S. Department of Agriculture replaced its Food Guide Pyramid with Choose My Plate, a guide to help you make healthy food choices based on new dietary guidelines that, among other things, recommend reducing salt intake, limiting saturated fats and eating less. The dinner plate logo is divided into four slightly different-sized quadrants — with fruits and vegetables making up half the plate and grains and proteins making up the other half — plus dairy.

On its website, Choose My Plate takes into account your age, gender and daily exercise habits to determine the number of servings you should have each day from each food group and offers sample menus to help you get most nutrients out of the foods you eat.