Good and bad foods: health

“You are what you eat”, goes a well known saying. It’s not quite true but its message really means that if you eat healthy foods, you are most likely to be healthy. If you eat nothing but corn chips, you won’t get to look like a corn cob but you certainly won’t be fit and healthy. This is because your body needs a good mix of foods.

So...
which
foods
are
good?

Good foods

Almost anything fresh is a good start. Better still is fresh organic food.

Oily fish

Vegetables, particularly orange or dark green ones (carrots, chard, broccoli, squashes like pumpkins)

Fruits

Oats and other fibre-rich grains

Pulses (beans, peas, lentils)

Certain vegetable oils which are high in monounsaturates (olive, canola/rapeseed)

And
which
foods
bad?
(By ‘bad’, I don’t mean they will make you sick or anything. Just that you should eat them in moderation. You don't need any of these to live. Trouble is everybody likes them and, because they are cheap, tasty and easy to eat, people eat far too much of them.)

'Bad' foods

Most processed foods — which generally contain sugar, salt and fat

Fatty foods like margarines, butter, cream, most cheeses, fatty meat

Sugar and sugary foods like cakes and candies

Food containing additives and colourings

Sugary or diet soda drinks

Salty foods

Junk food

Fast food and takeaways