UWAC Health Tips: Meet Your Nutritional Needs with a Variety of Foods

Focus on variety, amount, and nutrition.
Choose from all five food groups: fruits, vegetables, grains, protein foods, and dairy to get the nutrients you need.
Eat the right amount of calories for you based on your age, sex, height, weight, and physical activity level.
Eating healthy and staying active can help reduce the risk of obesity and certain diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
Choose foods and drinks low in saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars to help you manage a healthy weight and blood pressure.
Make small changes: Make half your plate fruits and vegetables, choose water over soda or juice, focus on whole fruits, vary your veggies, increase whole grains, choose low-fat dairy, and diversify proteins.

Sources: Milk and milk products as well as calcium-fortified soy milk.
Nutrients: Calcium, potassium, vitamin D, and protein.
Health Benefits:
- Needed for overall health and bone health.
- Reduces risk of osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and lowers blood pressure.

Sources: All vegetables and 100% vegetable juices.
Nutrients: Potassium, dietary fiber, folate, vitamin A, and vitamin C.
Health Benefits:
- Help maintain a healthy blood pressure, proper bowel function, healthy eyes and skin, protection from infections, and needed for growth and repair.
- Linked to a reduced risk of chronic diseases and certain types of cancer.

Sources: All fruits (including dried) and 100% fruit juices.
Nutrients: Potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin C, and folate.
Health Benefits:
- Help maintain a healthy blood pressure, proper bowel function, and needed for growth and repair. Linked to a reduced risk of chronic diseases and certain types of cancer.

Sources: Meat, poultry, seafood, beans and peas, eggs, processed soy products, nuts, and seeds.
Nutrients: Protein, B vitamins (niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, and B6), vitamin E, iron, zinc, and magnesium.
Health Benefits: Needed for growth and maintenance of the body, are a source of non-heme and heme iron, help release energy, needed for the nervous and immune systems, and some provide omega-3 fatty acids which may reduce the risk of heart disease.

Sources: Wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, and barley.
Nutrients and Health Benefits:
- Whole grains contain dietary fiber, iron, B vitamins, and minerals. They help maintain proper bowel function, provide a feeling of fullness, maintain a healthy weight and overall health, and are associated with reduced blood cholesterol levels and lower risk of developing chronic diseases.
- Fortified refined grains with added B vitamins and iron help with metabolism, maintain a healthy nervous system, and are source of non-heme iron.

Sources: Oils (Canola, corn, cottonseed, olive, safflower, soybean, sunflower, walnut, and sesame), nuts, olives, some fish, and avocados.
Nutrients and Health Benefits: Many are high in polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats, which provide essential fatty acids needed by the body to maintain cardiac health, as well as are a major source of vitamin E.