Food groups

Starchy foods

Base your meals on starchy carbohydrate foods such as bread, pasta, potatoes, noodles, rice, chapatis and breakfast cereals. These fill you up, give you energy and help you to control your blood glucose levels. A bowl of cereal can also be a good snack at any time of day.

Meat, fish and beans

Include some protein foods each day such as meat, fish, eggs, or vegetarian protein foods such as beans, pulses, soya, Tofu, Quorn and nuts. Meat eaters should try to choose fish and lean meat more often than sausage rolls and pork pies, because the latter tend to be high in fat.

Vegetables and fruit

You need at least five helpings each day sounds a lot, but remember tomato pasta sauce counts, tinned fruit and dried fruit count, tinned veg soup counts, fruit in fruit pie counts.

Milk and dairy foods

These include cheese, milk, yogurt, fromage frais, and ice cream. Go for low-fat milk and yogurt. Try to include dairy foods in your diet every day because they contain calcium, which makes your bones strong.

Fatty foods

Try and use less butter and margarine on bread, or better still, use spreads that contain a good fat called monounsaturated fat, like Bertolli. Unsaturated fats and oils are better for your heart too.

To keep fit and healthy it’s best for everyone not to have fatty (and sugary foods) too often. Watch out for too many snack foods such as crisps and biscuits, which are usually high in fat and calories.