Eating a healthy, balanced diet is an important part of maintaining good health, and can help you feel your best. It can be simple, too. Just follow these tips to get started. The two keys to a healthy diet are:

• Eat the right number of calories for how active you are, so that you balance the energy you consume with the energy you use. If you eat or drink too much, you'll put on weight. If you eat too little you'll lose weight. The average man needs around 2,500 calories a day. The average woman needs 2,000 calories. Most adults are eating more calories than they need, and should eat fewer calories.
• Eat a wide range of foods to ensure that you're getting a balanced diet and that your body is receiving all the nutrients it needs.

Fruit and vegetables are part of a balanced diet and can help us stay healthy. That’s why it so important that we get enough of them.

5 A DAY highlights the health benefits of getting five 80g portions of fruit and vegetables every day. That’s five portions of fruit and veg altogether, not five portions of each.

Five reasons to get five portions

• Fruit and vegetables taste delicious and there's so much variety to choose from.
• They're a good source of vitamins and minerals, including folate, vitamin C and potassium.
• They're an excellent source of dietary fibre, which helps maintain a healthy gut and prevent constipation and other digestion problems. A diet high in fibre can also reduce your risk of bowel cancer.
• They can help reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and some cancers.
• Fruit and vegetables contribute to a healthy and balanced diet.

Fruit and vegetables are also usually low in fat and calories (provided you don’t fry them or roast them in lots of oil). That’s why eating them can help you maintain a healthy weight and keep your heart healthy.

5 A DAY is based on advice from the World Health Organization, which recommends eating a minimum of 400g of fruit and vegetables a day to lower the risk of serious health problems, such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and obesity.

To get the most benefit out of your 5 A DAY, your five portions should include a variety of fruit and vegetables. This is because different fruits and vegetables contain different combinations of fibre, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.

Almost all fruit and vegetables count towards your 5 A DAY. Potatoes and cassava don’t count because they mainly contribute starch to the diet.

Nutrition labels can help you choose between products, and keep a check on the amount of foods high in fat, salt and added sugars that you're eating.

Most pre-packed foods have a nutrition label on the back or side of the packaging.

These labels usually include information on energy (calories), protein, carbohydrate and fat. They may provide additional information on saturated fat, sugars, sodium, salt and fibre. All nutrition information is provided per 100 grams and sometimes per portion of the food.

An increasing number of supermarkets and food manufacturers repeat information on calories, fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt on more visible labels on the front of packaging.

Nutrition labels can also provide information on how a particular food or drink product fits into your daily diet. You can find out more in the section on Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) below.

You can use nutrition labels to help you choose a more balanced diet. For a balanced diet:

• cut down on fat (especially saturated fat), salt and added sugars base your meals on starchy foods such as potatoes, bread, pasta and rice, choosing wholegrain where possible
• eat lots of fruit and vegetables: aim for at least five portions of a variety every day
• include some protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, pulses, milk and dairy foods

Nutrition labels on the back or side of packaging

Nutrition labels are often displayed as a panel or grid on the back or side of packaging.

This type of label usually includes information on energy (calories), protein, carbohydrate and fat. It may also provide additional information on saturated fat, sugars, sodium, salt and fibre. All nutrition information is provided per 100 grams and sometimes per portion of the food.

How do I know if a food is high in fat, saturated fat, sugar or salt?

There are guidelines to tell you if a food is high in fat, saturated fat, salt or sugar or not. These are:

Total fat
High: more than 20g of fat per 100g
Low: 3g of fat or less per 100g

Saturated fat
High: more than 5g of saturated fat per 100g
Low: 1.5g of saturated fat or less per 100g

Sugars
High: more than 15g of total sugars per 100g
Low: 5g of total sugars or less per 100g

Salt
High: more than 1.5g of salt per 100g (or 0.6g sodium)
Low: 0.3g of salt or less per 100g (or 0.1g sodium)

For example, if you are trying to cut down on saturated fat, you should limit your consumption of foods that have more than 5g of saturated fat per 100g.

Some nutrition labels on the back or side of packaging also provide information about Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs).

Many of us in eat too much salt. Too much salt can raise your blood pressure, which puts you at increased risk of health problems such as heart disease and stroke. But a few simple steps can help you to cut your salt intake. Video: how much salt you should eat, and how to cut down

You don't have to add salt to food to be eating too much: 75% of the salt we eat is already in everyday foods such as bread, breakfast cereal and ready meals.

But a diet that is high in salt can cause raised blood pressure, which around one third of adults in the UK already have.

High blood pressure often has no symptoms. But if you have it, you are more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke.

Cutting down on salt reduces blood pressure, which means that your risk of developing stroke or heart disease is reduced.

Foods that contain salt

Some foods are almost always high in salt because of the way they are made.

Other foods, such as bread and breakfast cereals, can contribute a lot of salt to our diet. But that's not because these foods are always high in salt: it's because we eat a lot of them.

High salt foods

These foods are almost always high in salt. To cut down on salt, eat them less often or have smaller amounts

• anchovies
• bacon
• cheese
• gravy granules
• ham
• olives
• pickles
• prawns
• salami
• salted and dry roasted nuts
• salt fish
• smoked meat and fish
• soy sauce
• stock cubes
• yeast extract

Foods that can be high in salt

In these foods, the salt content can vary widely between different brands or varieties. That means you can cut down on salt by comparing brands, and choosing the one that is lower in salt. Nutrition labels can help you do this.

These foods include:

• bread products such as crumpets, bagels and ciabatta
• pasta sauces
• crisps
• pizza
• ready meals
• soup
• sandwiches
• sausages
• tomato ketchup, mayonnaise and other sauces
• breakfast cereals

How much salt?

Adults should eat no more than 6g of salt a day: that's around one full teaspoon. Children should eat less (see below for recommendations for babies and children).

Of course, one easy way to eat less salt is to stop adding salt to your food during cooking and at the dinner table. If you regularly add salt to food when cooking, try cutting it out or adding less: you'll rediscover the real tastes of your favourite foods. And when you sit down to eat, taste your food first to see if it needs salt.

Use nutrition labels

Cutting back on added salt is only a small part of the solution. To really cut down, you need to become aware of the salt that is already in the everyday foods you buy, and choose lower salt options.

Fortunately, nutrition labels on food packaging now make this a lot easier. Most pre-packed foods have a nutrition label on the pack or side of the packaging.

Many foods also display information on the salt content on the front of the packaging. This may show the salt content as a percentage of your Guideline Daily Amount, or display a traffic light to show whether the food is low, medium or high in salt. Where traffic lights are used, red means high: leave these foods for an occasional treat, and aim to eat mainly foods that are green or amber.

Look at the figure for salt per 100g:

• High is more than 1.5g salt per 100g (or 0.6g sodium). May display a red traffic light.
• Low is 0.3g salt or less per 100g (or 0.1g sodium). May display a green traffic light.

If the amount of salt per 100g is in between 0.3g and 1.5g, that is a medium level of salt, and the packaging may display an amber traffic light.

As a rule, aim for foods that have a low or medium salt content. Leave high-salt foods for occasional use.

We all need some fat in our diet. But eating too much fat makes us more likely to become overweight. What’s more, too much of a particular kind of fat – saturated fat – can raise our cholesterol, which increases the risk of heart disease. That’s why it’s important to cut down on fat, and choose foods that contain unsaturated fat.

Eating too much fat can make us more likely to put on weight, because foods that are high in fat are also high in energy (calories). Being overweight raises our risk of serious health problems, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

But this doesn’t mean that all fat is bad. We need some fat in our diet because it helps the body absorb certain nutrients. Fat is a source of energy, and provides essential fatty acids that the body can’t make itself.

For most of us, it’s good to cut the total amount of fat in our diet. But we also need to think about the type of fat we're eating.

Eat less fat

Tips for cutting back on fat

Nutrition labels on food packaging can help you to reduce the amount of fat you eat:

• High fat foods: more than 20g of total fat per 100g
• Low fat foods: less than 3g of total fat per 100g

These tips can help you cut the total amount of fat in your diet:

• When shopping, compare nutrition labels so you can pick foods lower in fat. Use the per serving or per 100g information to compare different foods. Remember, servings may vary, so read the label carefully.
• Ask your butcher for lean cuts of meat, or compare nutrition labels on meat packaging.
• Choose lower-fat dairy products, such as 1% fat milk, lower fat cheese.
• Grill, bake, poach or steam food rather than frying or roasting, so that you won't need to add any extra fat.
• Measure oil with tablespoons rather than pouring it straight from a container: this will help you use less.
• Trim visible fat and take skin off meat before cooking. Use the grill instead of the frying pan, whatever meat you’re cooking.
• Put more vegetables or beans in casseroles, stews and curries, and a bit less meat. And skim the fat off the top before serving.
• When making sandwiches, try leaving out the butter or spread: you might not need it if you're using a moist filling. When you do use spread, go for a reduced-fat variety and choose one that is soft straight from the fridge, so it's easier to spread thinly.

Most adults and children eat too much sugar. Cut down by eating fewer sugary foods, such as sweets, cakes and biscuits, and drinking fewer sugary soft drinks.

Sugars occur naturally in foods such as fruit and milk, but we don’t need to cut down on these types of sugars.

Sugars are also added to a wide range of foods, such as sweets, cakes, biscuits, chocolate, and some fizzy drinks and juice drinks. These are the sugary foods that we should cut down on.

Why cut down on sugars?

Evidence from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey shows that most adults and children eat more sugar than is recommended as part of a healthy balanced diet.

Many foods that contain added sugars also contain lots of calories, so eating these foods often can contribute to you becoming overweight.

Food and drinks that have a lot of added sugars contain calories, but often have few other nutrients. To eat a healthy, balanced diet, we should eat these types of foods only occasionally, and get the majority of our calories from other kinds of foods such as starchy foods and fruits and vegetables.

Sugary foods and drinks can also cause tooth decay, especially if you eat them between meals. The longer the sugary food is in contact with the teeth, the more damage it can cause.

The sugars found naturally in whole fruit are less likely to cause tooth decay, because the sugars are contained within the structure of the fruit. But when fruit is juiced or blended the sugars are released. Once released these sugars can damage teeth, especially if fruit juice is drunk frequently.

Fruit juice is still a healthy choice, and counts as one of your recommended daily five portions of fruit and vegetables. But it is best to drink fruit juice at mealtimes in order to minimise damage to your teeth.

Tips to cut down on sugars

For a healthy, balanced diet, cut down on foods and drinks containing added sugars.

These tips can help you cut down:

• Instead of sugary fizzy drinks and juice drinks, go for water or unsweetened fruit juice (remember to dilute these for children, to further reduce the sugar).
• If you like fizzy drinks, try diluting fruit juice with sparkling water.
• Swap cakes or biscuits for a currant bun, scone or some malt loaf with low-fat spread.
• If you take sugar in hot drinks, or add sugar to your breakfast cereal, gradually reduce the amount until you can cut it out altogether.
• Rather than spreading jam, marmalade, syrup, treacle or honey on your toast, try a low-fat spread, sliced banana or low-fat cream cheese instead.
• Check nutrition labels to help you pick the foods with less added sugar, or go for the low-sugar version.
• Try halving the sugar you use in your recipes. It works for most things except jam, meringues and ice cream.
• Choose tins of fruit in juice rather than syrup.
• Choose wholegrain breakfast cereals, but not those coated with sugar or honey.