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Healthy Food Choice
Useful lists to help you make the healthy food choice
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Can you spot the healthy food choices when you shop or plan a meal? These useful lists of healthy food will help you decide what to buy, and what to cook.
Include foods from this healthy food choice list at every meal and you won't go wrong. Unhealthy food choices are also highlighted, so from now on, you can shop selectively.
Seek out organic, seasonal fruit and vegetables, ideally locally produced . Choose vegetables from across the colour spectrum – dark and light green, orange, red, yellow blue or black - to get the best range of nutrients.
Less healthy choice
Non-organic vegetables are grown in soil treated with artificial fertilisers which deplete the earth, and rob vegetables of mineral content. Canned vegetables can be good sources of nutrients, but avoid those processed with added salt and sugar.
POTATOES
Healthy food choice Organic, locally produced potatoes. Get to know the names of common varieties, as different types are suitable for different uses.
Unhealthy choice Avoid ready-made chips, waffles or other shaped potato products. Buy fresh potatoes rather than canned or frozen.
FRUIT
Healthy foods list Organic, fresh fruits, in season and locally produced are the ideal. Be mindful of food miles, and choose seasonal fruit where you can. Again, go for a range of colours. Dried fruits like apricots, pears, raisins, prunes, are also good.
Unhealthy food list Steer clear of fruits canned in sugary syrups. 'Fruit flavoured' products may contain no real fruit at all.
CEREALS AND GRAINS
Healthy grain choice Add variety to your diet with cous-cous, bulgur wheat, quinoa, oats.
Unhealthy grain choice Many breakfast cereals are made of refined grains, coated with sugar. Look for whole grain muesli, and check out the sugar content on the label before you buy. Learn how to choose healthy breakfast cereals.
NUTS AND SEEDS
Healthy food choice Lots of possibilities here. Try walnuts, almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds. All excellent sources of nutrients, sprinkled or chopped into breakfast cereals, desserts, sandwiches, or eaten by themselves. Nuts and seeds are high in calories because of their natural fat content.
Unhealthy choice Deep-fried, salted nuts and seeds.
BREAD
Healthy food choice Buy wholemeal bread from a local craft baker who bakes from scratch, if you can find one. Or make your own - use a bread making machine to make the job quick and easy.
Unhealthy choice Quite apart from its shortcomings in texture and flavour, mass-produced, sliced and wrapped bread contains unhealthy hydrogenated vegetable oils. Beware also bread from supermarket in-store bakeries. Almost all is made from factory-produced dough which has been part-baked and frozen, and the baking finished in the store.
POULTRY
Healthy food list Ideally, buy free-range and organic chicken and turkey. These are good, low-fat meats, high in nutrients, and have been humanely produced.
Unhealthy food list Avoid coated or shaped chicken or turkey products. These are often made from poor quality meat from birds raised in battery cages. Products contain a high proportion of added fat, fillers and other additives.
MEAT
Healthy meat, healthy sausages Look for free-range, organic pork, beef, lamb. Limit to once or twice a week. Choose cuts with the least fat. Buy sausages with high meat content, from butcher who makes them. Learn more about the meat facts.
Unhealthy meat, unhealthy sausages Avoid coated or shaped meat products and cheap, mass-produced sausages.
FISH
Healthy fish choice Serve oily fish, like salmon, sardines, tuna, 2-3 times a week. Canned fish is a good alternative to fresh. White fish, like plaice, haddock or cod are also good. Avoid deep frying - cook by grilling (broiling), steaming or oven-baking.
Unhealthy fish choice Avoid crumbed or battered fish products. Cheaper versions are made with minced fish, mixed with fat and fillers.
PASTA
Healthy pasta choice Try organic wholewheat or corn-based varieties and serve with homemade vegetable-based sauces, like those in these healthy pasta recipes.
Unhealthy choice Canned pasta, such as spaghetti hoops, is high in sugar and salt and very low in fibre/fiber.
DAIRY PRODUCTS
Healthy dairy food choice Milk Buy organic milk – it tastes better and is more nutritious. Choose skimmed, or semi-skimmed or 1% fat. Try substituting soya or oat milk. They're particularly good on cereal and taste creamier than ordinary milk. Cream, fromage frais, yogurt Look for low-fat, organic products. Cheese Choose low fat, organic cheeses. If you want to serve a cheese board, where the emphasis is on flavour, buy the full-fat varieties but serve smaller quantities.
Unhealthy choice Full-fat milk, cream, cheese, yogurt – use only occasionally.
EGGS
Healthy food choice Organic, free-range eggs are the best choice.
Unhealthy choice Avoid battery-produced eggs. Chickens that produce eggs labelled ‘Barn eggs’ or ‘perchery eggs’ may still be kept in miserable conditions, without freedom to roam outside.
Unhealthy snacks choice Fat-laden and salty crisps, tortilla chips, nuts.
CAKES, COOKIES, BISCUITS
Healthy food choice Making your own gives you control over how much fat and sugar you use. Try our healthy cake recipes.
Unhealthy choice Inspect labels of manufactured goods very carefully. Avoid any that contain hydrogenated vegetable oil. Remember that 'low fat' fat products are often very high in sugar, while 'low sugar' products usually have high levels of artificial sweetener.
