The World Health Organization (WHO) makes the
following 5 recommendations with respect to both populations and
individuals.
Eat roughly the same amount of calories that your body is
using. A healthy weight is a balance between energy consumed and energy that is
'burnt off'.
Limit intake of fats, and prefer unsaturated fats to saturated
fats and trans fats.
Increase consumption of plant foods, particularly
fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts.
Limit the intake of
sugar. A 2003 report recommends less than 10% of calorie intake from simple
sugars.
Limit salt / sodium consumption from all sources and ensure that
salt is iodized.
Other recommendations include:
Essential
micronutrients such as vitamins and certain minerals.
Avoiding directly
poisonous (e.g. heavy metals) and carcinogenic (e.g. benzene)
substances.
Avoiding foods contaminated by human pathogens (e.g. E. coli,
tapeworm eggs).
United States Department of Agriculture
The
Dietary Guidelines for American by the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) recommends three healthy patterns of diet, summarized in table below, for
a 2000 kcal diet.[8]
It emphasizes both health and environmental
sustainability and a flexible approach: the committee that drafted it wrote:
"The major findings regarding sustainable diets were that a diet higher in
plant-based foods, such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and
seeds, and lower in calories and animal-based foods is more health promoting and
is associated with less environmental impact than is the current U.S. diet. This
pattern of eating can be achieved through a variety of dietary patterns,
including the “Healthy U.S.-style Pattern,” the “Healthy Mediterranean-style
Pattern,” and the “Healthy Vegetarian Pattern”.[9] Food group amounts per day,
unless noted per week.
Food group/subgroup (units)/ Healthy US patterns/Healthy Vegetarian patterns /Healthy Med-style patterns
Fruits (cup eq) 2 2
2.5
Vegetables (cup eq) 2.5 2.5 2.5
Dark green 1.5/wk 1.5/wk
1.5/wk
Red/orange 5.5/wk 5.5/wk 5.5/wk
Starchy 5/wk 5/wk 5/wk
Legumes 1.5/wk 3/wk 1.5/wk
Others 4/wk 4/wk 4/wk
Grains (oz eq) 6 6.5 6
Whole 3
3.5 3
Refined 3 3 3
Dairy (cup eq) 3 3 2
Protein Foods (oz eq) 5.5 3.5
6.5
Meat (red and processed) 12.5/wk -- 12.5/wk
Poultry 10.5/wk --
10.5/wk
Seafood 8/wk -- 15/wk
Eggs 3/wk 3/wk 3/wk
Nuts/seeds 4/wk 7/wk
4/wk
Processed Soy (including tofu) 0.5/wk 8/wk 0.5/wk
Oils (grams) 27 27
27
Solid fats limit (grams) 18 21 17
Added sugars limit (grams) 30 36
29
American Heart Association / World Cancer Research Fund / American
Institute for Cancer Research
The American Heart Association, World
Cancer Research Fund, and American Institute for Cancer Research suggests a diet
that includes mainly of natural vegetable foods, with focus a wide range of
whole grains, beans, and non-starchy veggies and fruits. This healthy diet is
full of an extensive collection of various non-starchy vegetables and fruits,
that provide various colors consisting of red, green, yellow, white, purple, and
orange. They note that tomato grilled with oil, allium veggies like garlic, and
cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower, supply some defense against cancer.
This healthy diet is low in energy occurrence, which may protect in opposition
to weight gain and associated diseases. Finally, limiting consumption of sugary
drinks, limiting energy rich foods, including “fast foods” and red meat, and
staying away from processed meats improves health and longevity. Overall,
researchers and medical policy conclude that this healthy diet can reduce the
risk of serious disease and cancer.[
In kids less than 25 gms of extra
sugar (100 calories) is recommended per day.Other recommendations include no
extra sugars in those under 2 years old and less than one soft drink per
week.
Harvard School of Public Health