New Dietary Guidelines
A healthy diet is not something that lasts for three, six or twelve months. It should be a goal to aim for every day of every year. A healthy diet includes lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, plenty of whole grains and nuts and protein from lean meats and the types of fish that contain omega 3 fatty acids.
Fruits and vegetables give you many of the nutrients that you need for optimum health: vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, water, and healthful phytochemicals. Some are sources of vitamin A, while others are rich in vitamin C, folate, or potassium. Almost all fruits and vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories and none have cholesterol. All of these healthful characteristics may protect you from getting chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer. Filling up on fruits and vegetables will help you lose weight as well.
As you explore this site and work on your eating habits, keep this simple rule about serving sizes and portions in mind: Divide your plate into two sections. The first section - or 1/2 of your plate - should be filled with fruits and vegetables. Divide the second half into three equal sections. Fill two of those sections with your serving of grains and the remaining section with low-fat protein or meat.
Portions and servings-What's the difference?
A portion is the amount of food you choose to eat. There are no standard portion sizes. Check out our portion information guide to help you make better choices.
A serving is a standard amount used to help give advice about how much to eat, or to identify how many calories and nutrients are in a food.
For example:
You eat a sandwich with two slices of bread. The normal dietary serving size for bread is one slice.
Your portion is two slices, which equals two servings from the "grains" group.
Your two servings are one-third of the recommended six servings for people needing 1,600 calories per day - which includes most women.
Learn more about serving recommendations.
