The 5 Food Groups

Eating well or good nutrition means that you must try and enjoy a diversity of nutritious food from each of the 5 food groups.

If you want to enjoy a healthy living you absolutely must eat a variety of foods from each of these groups because your body will absorb every nutrients and vitamins to function well.

These 5 food groups make up the Australian guide to eat right. We can split foods to 5 groups, each food group provide almost similar amounts of key nutrients. Let’s take an example, the key nutrients of milk, yogurt, cheese and alternatives food group include protein and calcium. In the other hand, fruit group is a rich source of vitamins, specifically vitamin C. Let’s take another example, in the vegetables and legumes food group, orange vegetables, for instance, carrots and pumpkins contain altogether more Vitamin “A” than different vegetables, for example, white potatoes.

It isn't important to eat from every nutrition type every meal. Truth be told, in certain occurrences, you just need to eat a portion of the nourishments in every food class two or three times a week to enjoy a healthy living.

Let’s take a look at the Five Food Groups and discover the incredible variety and the abundance of choice there is when eating from these groups.

Dairy and/or their alternatives: the foods in this group are excellent sources of calcium, which is essential for strong and healthy bones. Not many other foods in our diet contain as much calcium as these foods.

Fruit: fruit provides vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber and many phytonutrients (nutrients naturally present in plants), that help your body stay healthy.

Grain (cereal) foods: always choose wholegrain and/or high fiber varieties of bread, cereals, rice, pasta, noodles, etc. Refined grain products (such as cakes or biscuits) can be high in added sugar, fat and sodium.

Lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds and legumes/beans: our bodies use the protein we eat to make specialized chemicals such as hemoglobin and adrenalin. Protein also builds, maintains, and repairs the tissues in our body. Muscles and organs (such as your heart) are primarily made of protein.

Vegetables and legumes/beans: vegetables should make up a large part of your daily food intake and should be encouraged at every meal (including snack times). They provide vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber and phytonutrients (nutrients naturally present in plants) to help your body stay healthy.