food, advice, nutritionist

Eat Well

The Eatwell Guide - Back to Basics

At our outreach events that we run across Oxfordshire, we've noticed how popular our colourful Eatwell Guide resources are. So this week, we thought we'd give you a low down on the Eatwell Guide, including practical tips and how you can access more information.

The NHS encourages us to eat a healthy balanced diet to maintain good health and keep us feeling our best. A balanced diet, combined with physical activity, can help us to manage our weight, as well as lower cholesterol levels, blood pressure and reduce our risk of type 2 diabetes. However, with so much information and advice on nutrition available on the internet these days, it can be difficult to know what is safe and reliable information to take on board. . .

The Eatwell Guide

The Eatwell Guide* is the government overview of the different kinds of foods we should be eating and in what proportions in order to achieve a healthy balanced diet. Heard it all before? That's because these guidelines represent the best available evidence-based nutrition science. Although this may not seem super exciting, it  can be really helpful for us to check in with the Eatwell Guide every now and again to get an idea of how balanced our diets are and whether we could be missing out on any key nutrients.

eatwell guide

The Eatwell Guide suggests trying to . . .

  • Eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day
  • Base meals on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy carbohydrates, choosing whole grain versions where possible.
  • Have some dairy or dairy alternatives; choosing lower fat and sugar options
  • Eat some beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other protein. We should try and eat 2 portions of fish every week, one of which should be oily.
  • Choose unsaturated oils and spreads and eat in small amounts.
  • Drink 6-8 cups/glasses of fluid a day.
  • If consuming food and drinks high in fat, salt or sugar, have these less often in smaller amounts.

So there you have it, a brief introduction to eating a healthy, balanced diet, as told by the Eatwell Guide!

Looking for more information?

Check out the Eatwell Guide booklet for more in depth information. Check out the NHS website for 8 tips on eating well.

If you would like more guidance on eating well for healthy weight loss, sign up to one of our programmes by completing the 'Get Started' form.

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