Healthy Eating
Why Is Healthy Eating Important?
Healthy eating is important for many reasons.
A. Healthy foods supply nutrients.
Healthy, balanced eating habits provide nutrients to your body. Nutrients give you energy and keep your heart beating, your brain active, and your muscles working. Nutrients help build and strengthen bones, muscles, and tendons and also regulate body processes, such as blood pressure.
As you plan healthy meals, keep these three points in mind:
- Balance:A balanced diet helps ensure that you get all the nutrients you need. Use the USDA MyPyramid
to learn how.
- Variety: Eat a wide variety of foods. No one food provides all the nutrients you need. Choose a wide variety among and within the food groups.
- Moderation: Use moderation as your guide for everything, including the calories you eat each day, your exercise and other activities, your desserts and sweets, and even your restrictions. Moderation lets you eat all foods.
Three essential nutrients (macronutrients) are protein, carbohydrate, and fat. They provide energy (as measured in calories) to the body.
Essential nutrients in food Nutrient Function Sources Protein Provides energy; builds and repairs body cells; is part of various enzymes, hormones, antibodies
Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, legumes (such as lentils), milk and milk products, vegetables, grains Carbohydrate Provides energy needed by the brain, nervous system, red blood cells, and other cells
Breads, cereal grains, pasta, rice, fruit, vegetables, milk, sugar Fat Provides energy and essential fatty acids; carries other fat-soluble nutrients (vitamins); is part of cell membranes, membranes around nerves, hormones, bile (for fat digestion)
Meat, poultry, fish, milk and milk products, nuts and seeds, oils, butter, margarine, salad dressing Vitamins and minerals are known as micronutrients. They play many important roles in the structure and function of your body, such as making new cells and promoting wound healing. See a table of vitamins and their functions and sources. See a table of minerals and their functions and sources.
In addition to the essential nutrients, foods also contain nonnutrients that can affect your body. These include fiber and phytochemicals (found in plants), many of which are protective against disease. Some of these compounds act as antioxidants, which protect the body's cells from damage. For example, lycopene is an antioxidant that is found in tomatoes and tomato products.
B. Healthy eating can lower your risk for disease.
Healthy foods can help you prevent and treat disease. Eating more fruits and vegetables as part of a heart-healthy diet can help lower blood pressure. Eating more fruits and vegetables may also lower your risk of lung, oral, esophageal, stomach, and colon cancer. And eating less saturated fat may also lower your risk for cancer and heart disease.4 For more information, see:
Healthy eating also may reduce the risk of:
- Heart disease and stroke. Eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain products that are high in fiber may lower your risk of heart disease and stroke.3 For more information, see the topic Coronary Artery Disease.
- High cholesterol. Eating less saturated and trans fat and cholesterol can lower your risk of high cholesterol and coronary artery disease (CAD).3 For more information, see the topic High Cholesterol.
- High blood pressure. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, following a low-fat diet, eating low-fat dairy products, and reducing salt intake can lower high blood pressure and reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke.5 For more information, see the topic High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) or:
- Osteoporosis. Not getting enough calcium and vitamin D contributes to bone thinning. Try to eat foods with calcium and vitamin D. Calcium is found in dairy products, some leafy green vegetables, and in foods that are calcium-enriched. Vitamin D is found in vitamin D-fortified milk, egg yolks, liver, and saltwater fish. For more information, see the topic Osteoporosis.
- Spina bifida. Pregnant women should eat foods that contain folate—such as leafy green vegetables or folic acid-enriched grains—before and during pregnancy, to help protect babies from this birth defect. All women of childbearing age should get 400 micrograms of folic acid from fortified foods or supplements each day.2 For more information, see the topic Spina Bifida.
C. Healthy eating can help you manage certain diseases.
Diabetes
If you have diabetes, healthy eating can help you control your blood sugar, and prevent or reduce complications of diabetes. For more information on the role of nutrition in treating diabetes, see the topics Type 1 Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes.
High cholesterol
You may be able to lower your cholesterol levels by eating foods low in saturated and trans fats and cholesterol and high in soluble fiber. For more information about nutrition's effect on cholesterol and heart disease, see the topic High Cholesterol.
High blood pressure
Making changes in the way you eat may help lower blood pressure.
- Eat 8 to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
- Eat 3 servings of low-fat dairy products each day.
- Eat foods low in total fat and saturated fat.
- Reduce the amount of salt you eat.
For more information, see the topic High Blood Pressure (Hypertension).
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| Author: | Debby Golonka, MPH | Last Updated: February 6, 2009 |
| Medical Review: | Ruth Schneider, MPH, RD - Diet and Nutrition Rhonda O'Brien, MS, RD, CDE - Diabetes Educator | |
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| Topic Contents | |
| Overview | |
Health Tools  | |
| FAQs | |
| How Do I Start Eating Healthier? | |
| How Do I Continue Healthy Eating? | |
| Preparing Healthy Meals | |
 | Why Is Healthy Eating Important? |
| Vegetarian Diets and Organic Foods | |
| Other Places To Get Help | |
| Related Information | |
| References | |
| Credits | |