When buying meat, poultry, milk, or milk products, choose versions that are lean, low-fat, or fat-free. Choose lean meats like chicken without the skin and lean beef or pork with the fat trimmed off.
If you frequently drink whole milk, switch to 1 percent milk or skim milk. Many people don't taste a difference. Some mix whole milk with lower-fat milk for a while so the taste buds can adjust. This doesn't mean you can never eat or drink the full-fat versions.
Tip #8) Focus on Fruit
The Dietary Guidelines recommend two cups of fruit per day at the 2,000-calorie reference diet. Fruit intake and recommended amounts of other food groups vary at different calorie levels. An example of two cups of fruit includes:
- one small banana
- one large orange
- one-fourth cup of dried apricots or peaches
Eat a variety of fruits--whether fresh, frozen, canned, or dried--rather than fruit juice for most of your fruit choices. The whole fruit has more fiber, it's more filling, and it's naturally sweet. Some juices, such as orange and prune, are a good source of potassium.
Ways to incorporate fruit in your diet include:
- adding it to your cereal
- eating it as a snack with low-fat yogurt or a low-fat dip
- making a fruit smoothie for dessert by mixing low-fat milk with fresh or frozen fruit such as strawberries or peaches.
Also, your family is more likely to eat fruit if you put it out on the kitchen table.
Tip #9) Make Half Your Grains Whole
Like fruits and vegetables, whole grains are a good source of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
In general, at least half the grains you consume should come from whole grains. For many, but not all, whole grain products, the words "whole" or "whole grain" will appear before the grain ingredient's name. The whole grain
must be the first ingredient listed in the ingredients list on the food package. The following are some whole grains:
- whole wheat
- whole oats
- oatmeal
- whole-grain corn
- popcorn
- wild rice
- brown rice
- buckwheat
- whole rye
- bulgur
- cracked wheat
- whole-grain barley
- millet
Whole-grain foods
cannot necessarily be identified by their color or by names such as brown bread, nine-grain bread, hearty grains bread, or mixed grain bread.
Tip #10) Eat Your Veggies
The Dietary Guidelines recommend two and one-half cups of vegetables per day if you eat 2,000 calories each day.
Try adding vegetables to foods such as:
- meatloaf
- lasagna
- omelettes
- stir-fry dishes
- casseroles
Frozen chopped greens such as spinach, and peas, carrots, and corn are easy to add. Also, add dark leafy green lettuce to sandwiches. You can involve children by letting them help pick vegetables in different colors when you're shopping.
Eat a variety of dark green vegetables such as:
Eat a variety of orange and deep yellow vegetables such as:
- carrots
- winter squash
- sweet potatoes
Eat a variety of starchy vegetables and legumes such as:
- corn
- dry beans
- peas
- chickpeas
- pinto beans
- kidney beans
- tofu
Eat a variety of other vegetables, such as tomatoes and onions.
Look for ways to make it convenient. You can buy salad in a bag. Or buy a vegetable tray from the grocery store and put it in the refrigerator. Everything's already cut up and you can just reach in and eat it throughout the week.
Tip #11) Lower Sodium and Increase Potassium
Higher salt intake is linked to higher blood pressure, which can raise the risk of stroke, heart disease, and kidney disease. The Dietary Guidelines recommend that people consume less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day (approximately one teaspoon of salt). There are other recommendations for certain populations that tend to be more sensitive to salt.
For example, people with high blood pressure, blacks, and middle-aged and older adults should consume no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium each day.
Most of the sodium people eat comes from processed foods. Use the Nutrition Facts label on food products: 5%DV or less for sodium means the food is low in sodium and 20%DV or more means it's high. Compare similar products and choose the option with a lower amount of sodium. Most people won't notice a taste difference. Consistently consuming lower-salt products will help taste buds adapt, and you will enjoy these foods as much or more than higher-salt options.
Prepare foods with little salt. The
DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) eating plan from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommends giving flavor to food with:
- herbs
- spices
- lemon
- lime
- vinegar
- salt-free seasoning blends
Consult with your physician
before using salt substitutes because their main ingredient, potassium chloride, can be harmful to some people with certain medical conditions.
Potassium counteracts some of sodium's effect on blood pressure. Increase potassium-rich foods such as:
- sweet potatoes
- orange juice
- bananas
- spinach
- winter squash
- cantaloupe
- tomato puree
Tip #12) Limit Added Sugars
The Dietary Guidelines recommend choosing and preparing food and beverages with little added sugars. Added sugars are sugars and syrups added to foods and beverages in processing or preparation, not the naturally occurring sugars in fruits or milk. Major sources of added sugars in the American diet include regular soft drinks, candy, cake, cookies, pies, and fruit drinks. In the ingredients list on food products, sugar may be listed as:
- brown sugar
- corn syrup
- glucose
- sucrose
- honey
- molasses
Be sure to check the sugar in low-fat and fat-free products, which sometimes contain a lot of sugar.
Instead of drinking regular soda and sugary fruit drinks, try dinking:
- diet soda
- low-fat or fat-free milk
- water
- flavored water
- 100 percent fruit juice
For snacks and desserts, try fruit. People are often pleasantly surprised that fruit is great for satisfying a sweet tooth. If ice cream is calling your name, don't have it in the freezer. Make it harder to get by having to go out for it. Then it can be an occasional treat.
Smart Snacks
- unsalted pretzels
- applesauce
- low-fat yogurt with fruit
- unbuttered and unsalted popcorn
- broccoli, carrots, or cherry tomatoes with dip/low-fat yogurt
- grapes
- apple slices with peanut butter
- raisins
- nuts
- graham crackers
- gingersnap cookies
- low or reduced-fat string cheese
- baked whole-grain tortilla chips with salsa
- whole-grain cereal with low-fat milk
