5 Ways to Tell If Your Diet is Healthy - As per WHO

Summary: WHO, UN, and FAO have developed extensive and updated reports regarding dietary choices. Understanding these five main principles underlining healthy dietary choices may help prevent metabolic disorders and other chronic health issues.

 Discussion around a healthy diet is never enough, as unhealthy food choices are now the leading cause of health issues globally. Moreover, science is developing a better understanding of a healthy diet every year. 

Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) published an extensive document outlining how to tell if your diet is healthy or not.

In both developed nations like the US and developing nations, wrong dietary choices are now causing most diseases. This means that by just choosing the right kind of food, one may prevent numerous ailments. 

There are many ways of switching to healthy diets, such as getting started with Mediterranean, DASH, or some other healthy diet form. However, it is even better to understand the underlying principles of a healthy diet. 

• Choose the Right Kinds of Carbs

 Carbs are not your enemies, and most of the calories must come from carbs. So, the new report says that 45-75% of daily calories must come from healthy carbs.

However, It is vital to choose whole foods. Some good sources of carbs are whole grains, vegetables, fruits, pulses, beans, and lentils. It is good to ensure that one consumes about 400 grams of fruits and vegetables a day.

It is vital to realize that dietary fiber is also a kind of carb, and it is vital to ensure that your diet contains at least 25 grams of dietary fiber. Adequate dietary fiber intake may reduce the risk of heart disease and metabolic disorders.

• Know Your Fats

As per this report, people must get 15-30% of their daily calories from healthy fats, which essentially means unsaturated fats. Choosing healthy fats may help maintain blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and they are needed for producing hormones, brain health, and much more.

In this report, health experts say that a special focus must be placed on two essential fatty acids, linoleic acid and [alpha]-linolenic acid. The body cannot produce these two fatty acids, and their dietary intake is essential. Linoleic acid is one of the omega-6 fatty acids, whereas alpha-linolenic acid is an omega-3 fatty acid.

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• Adequate Proteins Intake

Proteins are the building blocks of the body. This new guideline says that people should aim for 1 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. They must get 10-15% of their calories from proteins.

Here, there are a few things to know. Firstly, these recommendations are slightly above what dietary guidelines in the US recommend, which recommends 0.8 grams of proteins per kg of body weight.

Secondly, perhaps more importantly, one should get their proteins from low-inflammation foods. Thus, prefer plant-based foods, lean poultry, fatty fish, legumes, dairy products, nuts, and seeds. 

• Avoid Ultra-Processed Foods

New guidelines are especially strict about reducing intake of ultra-processed foods. These are foods that have undergone significant processing, like candies, frozen meals, many breakfast cereals, chicken nuggets, chips, cookies, packed meats, instant soups, and so on.

All these foods are a big no. If one cannot avoid them, then one should limit their intake to 10% of the daily calorie requirement. 

These foods are known to be high in salt, unhealthy fats, and other toxins, including preservatives, colors, and more. So, they harm health in many ways.

• Avoid Red Meat

This is an interesting recommendation, considering that the US is among the highest per capita consumers of red meat. However, the WHO and the FAO say that consuming too much pork and beef may harm health.

There is increasing evidence that red meat causes inflammation, contributing to colorectal cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart health issues, and dementia. It appears that consuming processed red meat is even more harmful.

So, this recommendation says that one should minimize consumption and instead consume lean protein. Foods like nuts and beans are known to boost brain health.

Source:

What are healthy diets? Joint statement by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization. (n.d.). Retrieved December 18, 2024, from https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240101876