Eat a variety of foods everyday. This is an advise we may have heard since our childhood and remains number one in the Nutritional Guidelines for Filipinos. It is one criterion of a healthy diet, the others being balance, moderation, nutrient density and calorie control.
Everyday, all people need the same six nutrients – carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins, minerals and water. It is the only the amount that varies depending on certain factors like age, sex, physiological state. Our diet which includes the food we eat and beverages we drink, supply our nutrient needs. Some may use food supplements to add to whatever nutrients derived from the diet.
There are six food groups – grains, roots and tubers (or rice and alternatives); fruits; vegetables; protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, chicken, eggs and milk; sugar; fats and oils. No single food can provide all the nutrients we need daily. It is only a mother’s breastmilk that is complete with the nutrients able to sustain her infant’s needs, but only up to age six months. In general, vegetables and fruits maybe rich in vitamins and minerals but lacks protein. Fish, meat, poultry, eggs, dried beans and nuts are protein-rich foods but lacking of carbohydrates, low in fiber and many vitamins and minerals. Calcium which is needed for healthy bones and teeth and essential for blood clotting, helping muscles to contract and regulation normal heart rhythms and nerve functions is abundant in milk and milk products and small fishes but lacking or low in many other foods. Iodine which is needed for growth and development, is found only in seafoods and iodized salt and lacking in foods grown in iodine-deficient soil or animals that fed in grasses in iodine-deficient areas. Rice and alternatives maybe rich in carbohydrates but lacking of protein and fat.
As the Food Pyramid for Filipinos espouses, we are to eat from each of the food groups everyday, from four food groups at the least. Within each food group, we are to eat different kinds of food. This is to ensure or at least increase the possibility of getting all the nutrients our body needs. Whatever nutrients are lacking in one food item, can be sourced out from other food items. In fact, while we should be eating vegetables and fruits everyday, at least one-half cup of vegetables should be leafy green. Also, at least one serving of fruit should be rich in vitamin C. All food items can have a place in the diet. Though everything is expensive nowadays, may we all find ways to have a varied diet adequate of nutrients. After all, nutrition is the best investment being a prerequisite to good health.
