Dietary guidelines for Australian adults

The National Health and Medical Research Council provides general advice on healthy eating to remain well. The following is a summary of the guidelines. 

Enjoy a wide variety of nutritious foods:

• eat plenty of vegetables, legumes and fruits
• eat plenty of cereals (including breads, rice, pasta and noodles), preferably wholegrain
• include lean meat, fish, poultry and/or alternatives
• include milks, yoghurts, cheeses and/or alternatives, and choose reduced fat varieties where possible
• drink plenty of water.

Take care to:

• limit saturated fat and moderate total fat intake
• choose foods low in salt
• limit your alcohol intake if you choose to drink
• consume only moderate amounts of sugars and foods containing added sugars.

It is also important to:

• prevent weight gain, be physically active and eat according to your energy needs
• care for your food, prepare and store it safely
• encourage and support breastfeeding.

Some healthy eating tips to get you started:

• Include at least one to two varied fresh/tinned fish meals per week.
• Include several varied lean red meat meals per week. Vegetarians need to eat legumes and/or nuts daily.
• Include lean poultry or pork weekly.
• Include at least one legume meal per week, for example tofu or baked beans.
• Include a handful of a variety of nuts/seeds several times a week.
• Include eggs weekly.
• Include several cups of vegetables daily. Include dark green leafy types, a variety of deep coloured vegetables across the week, and garlic, onions and herbs in meals daily.
• Include reduced fat milk products daily.
• Have at least two pieces of fruit daily.
• Try to make most of your cereal serves wholegrain and reduced in salt.
• It is ok to sprinkle a little iodised salt on healthy foods to improve flavour.
• It is ok to sprinkle a little sugar on healthy foods to improve their flavour and prefer foods with naturally occurring sugar rather than those high in added sugar.
• Have plenty of fluids including water and tea.
• Minimise hidden fats by choosing lean meats and reduced fat milk and limiting processed food products.
• Preferably eat unrefined natural fat found in nuts, seeds, fish, soy, olives and avocado (because the fat is accompanied by other desirable nutrients).
• Reserve added fats (preferably cold pressed monounsaturated oils) for cooking to improve the palatability of vegetables, legumes and fish.

For more information talk to your doctor or visit:
Department of Health and Ageing www.health.gov.au
Health Insite www.healthinsite.gov.au
Nutrition Australia www.nutritionaustralia.org
Healthy Eating Club www.healthyeatingclub.org

Sources- www.cancervic.org.au and www.healthyeatingclub.org - Last updated September 2008