Fruit and Vegetables

The NHS claims most of us still are not eating enough fruit and vegetables. They should make up over a third of the food we eat each day.
Aim to eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day. Choose from fresh, frozen, tinned, dried or juiced.
Remember that fruit juice and smoothies should be limited to no more than a combined total of 150ml a day.
Fruit and vegetables are a good source of vitamins, minerals and fibre.
Fruit and vegetables don't have to be fresh to count as a portion. Nor do they have to be eaten on their own: they also count if they're part of a meal or dish.
Potatoes do not count towards your 5 A Day.
Potatoes are a starchy food and a great source of energy, fibre, B vitamins and potassium.
In the UK, we get a lot of our vitamin C from potatoes. Although they typically only contain around 11 to 16mg of vitamin C per 100g of potatoes, we generally eat a lot of them.
When eaten as part of a meal, potatoes are generally used in place of other sources of starch, such as bread, pasta or rice. Because of this, they don't count towards your 5 A Day.

Starchy foods

Starchy food should make up just over a third of the food we eat. Choose higher fibre wholegrain varieties, such as wholewheat pasta and brown rice, or simply leave skins on potatoes.
There are also higher fibre versions of white bread and pasta.
Starchy foods are a good source of energy and the main source of a range of nutrients in our diet. As well as starch, they contain fibre, calcium, iron and B vitamins.
Fibre is the name given to a range of compounds found in the cell walls of vegetables, fruits, pulses and cereal grains.
Fibre that cannot be digested helps other food and waste products move through the gut more easily.
Potato skins, wholegrain bread and breakfast cereals, brown rice, and wholewheat pasta are good sources of this kind of fibre.
Fibre can help keep our bowels healthy and can help us feel full, which means we're less likely to eat too much.
This makes wholegrain starchy foods and potatoes eaten with their skins on a particularly good choice if you're trying to lose weight.
Some types of fibre – present in fruits and vegetables such as apples, carrots, potatoes, oats and pulses – can be partly digested, and may help reduce the amount of cholesterol in the blood.

Dairy

Milk, cheese, yoghurt and fromage frais are good sources of protein and some vitamins, and they're also an important source of calcium, which helps keep our bones strong.
Try to go for lower fat and lower sugar products where possible, like 1% fat milk, reduced-fat cheese or plain low-fat yoghurt.
Unsweetened calcium-fortified dairy alternatives like soya milks, soya yoghurts and soya cheeses also count as part of this food group, and can make good alternatives to dairy products.
The fat in milk provides calories for young children, and also contains essential vitamins.
Cheese can form part of a healthy, balanced diet, but it's good to keep track of how much you eat and how often as it can be high in saturated fat and salt.
Most cheeses – including brie, stilton, cheddar, Lancashire and double Gloucester – contain between 20g and 40g of fat per 100g. Foods that contain more than 17.5g of fat per 100g are considered high in fat.
Some cheeses can also be high in salt – more than 1.5g salt per 100g is considered high. Eating too much salt can contribute to high blood pressure.
Butter is high in fat and saturated fat. It can often be high in salt, too, so try to eat it less often and in small amounts.
Choosing lower fat spreads instead of butter is a good way to reduce your fat intake.
Cream is also high in fat, so use this less often and in small amounts, too. You can use lower fat plain yoghurt and fromage frais instead of cream.
Alternatively, you could opt for reduced fat soured cream or reduced fat crème fraîche in recipes – but remember, these foods can also contain a lot of saturated fat.
When eating yoghurts or fromage frais, choose lower fat varieties, but look at the label to check that they're not high in added sugar (plain lower fat yoghurts are a good choice as they usually don't contain added sugars).

Protein

These foods are good sources of protein, vitamins and minerals. Pulses, such as beans, peas and lentils, are good alternatives to meat because they're lower in fat and higher in fibre and protein, too.
Choose lean cuts of meat and mince, and eat less red and processed meat like bacon, ham and sausages.
Aim for at least 2 portions of fish every week, 1 of which should be oily, such as salmon or mackerel.
These tips can help you buy healthier options:

• ask your butcher for a lean cut
• if you're buying pre-packed meat, check the nutrition label to see how much fat it contains and compare products
• go for turkey and chicken without the skin as these are lower in fat (or remove the skin before cooking)
• try to limit processed meat products such as sausages, salami, pâté and beefburgers, because these are generally high in fat – they are often high in salt, too
• try to limit meat products in pastry, such as pies and sausage rolls, because they are often high in fat and salt

Oils and Spreads

Unsaturated fats are healthier fats and include vegetable, rapeseed, olive and sunflower oils.
Remember all types of fat are high in energy and should be eaten sparingly.
Fat helps the body absorb vitamins A, D and E. These vitamins are fat-soluble, meaning they can only be absorbed with the help of fats.
Any fat not used by your body's cells or to create energy is converted into body fat. Likewise, unused carbohydrate and protein are also converted into body fat.
All types of fat are high in energy. A gram of fat, whether saturated or unsaturated, provides 9kcal (37kJ) of energy compared with 4kcal (17kJ) for carbohydrate and protein.
The main types of fat found in food are:

• saturated fats
• unsaturated fats

Most fats and oils contain both saturated and unsaturated fats in different proportions.
As part of a healthy diet, we should try to cut down on foods and drinks high in saturated fats and trans fats, and replace some of them with unsaturated fats.