Nutrition

What and how much you eat and drink, and being physically active are important for your health.

Being healthy improves your quality of life and your sense of wellbeing. Being healthy also means that you are more likely to be around longer for your whānau.

Healthy eating:

• helps your body to work well and helps you to feel good
• can lower your risk of heart disease, stroke and some cancers and help you to have a healthy bodyweight
• means eating a variety of foods that give you the nutrients your body needs.

Healthy eating is not about sticking to strict diets or depriving yourself of the foods you love. Rather, it’s about eating a balanced range of foods that help you feel great, have more energy, improve your outlook, and help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

Enjoy a variety of nutritious foods, including:

• Plenty of vegetables and fruit.
• Grain foods, mostly whole grain and those naturally high in fibre.
• Some milk and milk products, mostly low- and reduced-fat.
• Some legumes, nuts, seeds, fish and other seafood, eggs or poultry, or red meat with the fat removed.