Ten Rules For Healthy Eating

1. Eat a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables.
   Eat three to five servings of vegetables and two to four servings of fruit each day.
2. Eat whole-grain pasta, rice, breads, and cereals.
   Natural, unprocessed, and unrefined whole grains are nutritional storehouses. Aim for two to five servings each day. Whole grains include whole wheat, oat, rye, spelt, quinua, corn, barley, millet, buckwheat, and brown rice.
3. Eat certified organic foods.
   Organic produce tastes better and is healthier than commercially cultivated produce. They contain higher levels of vitamins C and A, antioxidants, and essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, selenium, and chromium.
4. Eat natural fats/avoid synthetic fats.
   The low-fat fad of the 1980s and 1990s had many people convinced that fats were our enemy and carbohydrates our friend. In attempting to eat healthier and stay trim, many people eliminated almost all fat from their diets.
5. Avoid refined starch and sugars.
   Limit sweetened foods and drinks to no more than 10 percent of daily calories. Foods made with refined white flour that are heavily sweetened with sugar or corn (or high fructose) sweeteners are digested rapidly, which releases large amounts of glucose into your bloodstream quickly.
6. Eat wild fish and meat and eggs from range-fed, antibiotic- and hormone-free animals.
   Consume a total of five to eight ounces of protein foods daily, with seafood at least twice a week. You need protein even when you are trying to lose weight.
7. Eat several good sources of calcium.
   Children and teens need two to three servings of calcium-rich foods each day; adults need one to two servings.
8. Avoid too much salt and salty foods.
   Americans consume twice as much salt daily as is recommended by leading health experts.
9. Avoid processed and additive-rich foods.
   There are other additives besides sodium that deserve our attention and should be used with caution. Read ingredient labels on packaged foods.
10. Drink plenty of clean, filtered water.
    The most abundant essential substance your body needs is water. Seventy percent of our bodies are made up of water, and all the chemical reactions continuously underway in our tissues and cells must take place in a watery environment.