Healthy Eating
Healthy Eating
A good diet is important for good health. A healthy and varied diet can help to maintain a healthy body weight, enhance general wellbeing and reduce the risk of a number of diseases including heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and osteoporosis.
A healthy balanced diet contains a variety of types of food, including lots of fruit, vegetables and starchy foods such as wholemeal bread and wholegrain cereals; some protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, eggs and lentils; and some dairy foods. Also, food that is low in fat (especially saturated fat), salt and sugar.
No single food can provide all the essential nutrients that the body needs. Therefore, it is important to consume a wide variety of foods to provide adequate intakes of vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre, which are important for health.
Little changes can make a big difference!
Remember…
- try low-fat alternatives to dairy products, eg low-fat spreads instead of butter
- trim fat from meat
- grill or oven cook rather than fry
- gradually stop adding salt to your food
- eat more salad
- aim to eat five portions of fruit or vegetables a day
- snack on fruits or raw vegetables rather than crisps or chocolate!
- don't overcook or microwave vegetables - it destroys valuable nutrients
- drink about two litres of fluid (ideally water) a day
- read food labels carefully
Appetite for Life – Find out how schools across Wrexham will be improving the nutritional standards of food and drink provided to pupils.
Healthy Eating - Healthy eating can be easy as there are lots of things you can do to improve your diet. A good start is to eat a range of foods to make sure you get a balanced diet.
Improve Food in Youth Centres - The Welsh Assembly Government is offering Local Authorities grants of up to £4000 throughout 2009 to improve food in Youth Centres.
Community Food & Nutrition Skills Course (PDF version 4.5Mb) - This course has been designed specifically to provide a basic level of knowledge on food and nutrition for those working with key groups in the community.
Bump to Baby - This event was held on the 3rd Febrarary 2009 and provided a nutrition update for all those working with pregnant women and babies across Flintshire and Wrexham.
New Project to Help Prevent Malnutrition amongst Older Adults Living in the Community
5-a-day Leaflet - PDF version 151Kb 
Healthy Lunches - PDF version 755Kb
Food Co-ops in Wrexham – Fancy a bag packed of veg or fruit for £3? - PDF version 186Kb
Healthier Lunchboxes, Healthier Children - PDF version 153Kb
Healthy Eating - External links
The Cardiac Cooking Companion - This recipe book has been produced by the Cardiac Rehab Team and Dietetics Department North Wales NHS Trust with input from the Wrexham British Cardiac Patients Association and Wrexham Cardiac Support Group. The aim of the book is to promote foods with known cardio-protective benefits and to provide affordable and easy to prepare recipes with the opportunity to become more adventurous with your food choices and improve your cooking skills along the way.
Food Standards Agency - Protecting the public's health and consumer interests in relation to food.
Eatwell - is the Food Standards Agency's consumer advice and information site. It is full of reliable and practical advice about healthy eating, understanding food labels and how, what we eat can affect our health.
NHS '5 a day' - Valuable information provided by the National Health Service, regarding eating more fruit and veg.
British Nutrition Foundation - Providing healthy eating information.
British Heart Foundation - A useful site for information on healthy diets to help reduce the risk of developing heart disease.
Sustain - The alliance for better food and farming.
Allotments – Interested in growing your own healthy foods?
Food Safety – Advice to ensure food is safe and free from contamination.