What is HEALTHY EATING?

Healthy eating is consuming foods from all food groups that provides nutrients for the
body’s daily metabolic functions and physical activities.

Healthy eating frame work

Balance – Eat food from all groups.
➢ Fruits – should be half of your plate. These include apples, bananas, berries,
grapes, lemons, mangoes, and melons.
➢ Vegetables – should be half of your plate. These include broccoli, cabbage,
carrots, green peas, eggplants, and spinach.
➢ Grains – make at least half of your grain’s whole. These include brown rice,
oatmeal, whole-wheat bread, whole-wheat crackers, grits, and quinoa.
➢ Dairy - consume fat free or low-fat milk. These include yogurt, calcium-fortified soy
milk, and low-fat milk.
➢ Proteins – consume lean & varied selection of proteins. These include poultry,
meat, seafood, eggs, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds, and soy products.
➢ Oils – should be consume sparingly. If you eat nuts, fish, salad dressing, and use
cooking oils regularly then you are consuming enough oils already.
Variety – Eat different foods from each food group.
➢ For example, for lunch you may have chicken ¼ cup brown rice and 1 (8 oz.) water
with slices of lemons.
➢ Make sure to drink water, homemade lemonade and 100% natural fruit juice.
Moderation – Eat foods in specific portions and/or based on serving sizes.
➢ Know your calorie needs and eat foods based on those needs.
➢ Make sure to measure food portions because it is easier for children and adults to
stay at a healthy weight or to lose weight.

The four types of eating are: Fuel, Fun, Fog, and Storm.
Fuel Eating is when you are eating foods that support your body and it’s needs. This is
clean eating. Eating real, whole, natural, minimally processed foods that provide you with
energy and nourishment and feel good in your body. You want to eat fuel foods 80% of
the time.
 Fun Eating is eating any foods that you love to eat that don’t necessarily give you anything
back. In other words, food that tastes great and you enjoy but don’t offer any real
nutritional value (i.e., cake, wine, potato chips, candy, etc.). You want to pay careful
attention when eating fun foods as to be sure you are receiving the pleasure that they
provide. This could look like one small treat a day or two fun meals a week. The rule
with fun eating is that you must enjoy each bite.
Fog Eating is anytime you eat without awareness. You are munching on chips without
even tasting them, you are snacking on your kids’ peanut butter and jelly crusts while
making lunch, you finish off a bag of candy before you even realize how much you ate
and don’t even remember what it tasted like. Fog eating is not enjoyable or purposeful;
it’s an unconscious munch that we are not even aware we are doing. The goal is to never
fog eat. Stop the minute you catch yourself.
Storm Eating is binge eating or eating out of control. It is anytime you can’t stop
yourself. You are aware that you are eating and you want to stop but you feel like you
can’t stop or like you can’t control yourself. It’s almost like you are watching another
person inside your own body. Sometimes this happens if we let ourselves get too hungry
and sometimes it happens when we have an overwhelming emotion that we do not want
to feel. Storm eating is usually followed by regret and shame. Many times, it’s done in
private or in hiding.

Major determinants of food choice

The key driver for eating is of course hunger but what we choose to eat is not determined
solely by physiological or nutritional needs. Some of the other factors that influence food
choice include:
• Biological determinants such as hunger, appetite, and taste
• Economic determinants such as cost, income, availability
• Physical determinants such as access, education, skills (e.g., cooking) and time
• Social determinants such as culture, family, peers and meal patterns
• Psychological determinants such as mood, stress and guilt
• Attitudes, beliefs and knowledge about food
Biological determinants of food choice
Hunger and satiety
Our physiological needs provide the basic determinants of food choice. Humans
need energy and nutrients in order to survive and will respond to the feelings of
hunger and satiety (satisfaction of appetite, state of no hunger between two eating
occasions). The central nervous system is involved in controlling the balance
between hunger, appetite stimulation and food intake.
Economic and physical determinants of food choice
Cost and accessibility
There is no doubt that the cost of food is a primary determinant of food choice.
Whether cost is prohibitive depends fundamentally on a person's income and socio-
economic status. Low-income groups have a greater tendency to consume
unbalanced diets and in particular have low intakes of fruit and vegetables.
However, access to more money does not automatically equate to a better-
quality diet but the range of foods from which one can choose should increase.
Social determinants of food choice
Influence of social class
What people eat is formed and constrained by circumstances that are essentially
social and cultural. Population studies show there are clear differences in social
classes with regard to food and nutrient intakes. Poor diets can result in under-
(micronutrients deficiency) and over-nutrition (energy over consumption resulting in
overweight and obesity); problems that face different sectors of society, requiring
different levels of expertise and methods of intervention.
Cultural influences
Cultural influences lead to the difference in the habitual consumption of certain
foods and in traditions of preparation, and in certain cases can lead to restrictions
such as exclusion of meat and milk from the diet. Cultural influences are however
amenable to change: when moving to a new country individual often adopt particular
food habits of the local culture.
Social context
Social influences on food intake refer to the impact that one or more persons have
on the eating behaviour of others, either direct (buying food) or indirect (learn from
peer's behaviour), either conscious (transfer of beliefs) or subconscious. Even when
eating alone, food choice is influenced by social factors because attitudes and
habits develop through the interaction with others. However, quantifying the social
influences on food intake is difficult because the influences that people have on the
eating behaviour of others are not limited to one type and people are not necessarily
aware of the social influences that are exerted on their eating behaviour.

Social support can have a beneficial effect on food choices and healthful dietary change.
Social support from within the household and from co-workers was positively associated
with improvements in fruit and vegetable consumption and with the preparative stage of
improving eating habits, respectively. Social support may enhance health promotion
through fostering a sense of group belonging and helping people to be more competent
and self-efficacious.
The family is widely recognized as being significant in food decisions. Research shows
the shaping of food choices taking place in the home. Because family and friends can be
a source of encouragement in making and sustaining dietary change, adopting dietary
strategies which are acceptable to them may benefit the individual whilst also having an
effect on the eating habits of others3.

Social setting
Although the majority of food is eaten in the home, an increasing proportion is eaten
outside the home, e.g., in schools, at work and in restaurants. The venue in which
food is eaten can affect food choice, particularly in terms of what foods are on offer.
The availability of healthy food at home and 'away from home' increases the
consumption of such foods. However, access to healthy food options is limited in
many work/school environments. This is particularly true for those with irregular
hours or with particular requirements, e.g., vegetarian. With the majority of adult
women and men in employment, the influence of work on health behaviours such
as food choices is an important area of investigation.

Meal patterns
People have many different eating occasions daily, the motivations for which will differ
from one occasion to the next. Most studies investigate the factors that influence habitual
food choice but it may be useful to investigate food choice at different eating occasions.
The effects of snacking on health have been debated widely. Evidence shows that
snacking can have effects on energy and nutrient intakes but not necessarily on body
mass index. However, individuals with normal weight or overweight may differ in their
coping strategies when snack foods are freely available and also in their compensatory
mechanisms at subsequent meals. Moreover, snack composition may be an important
aspect in the ability of individuals to adjust intake to meet energy needs.
Helping young adults to choose healthy snack choices poses a challenge to many health
professionals. In the home, rather than forbidding unhealthy snacks, a more positive
approach may be the introduction of healthy snack options over time. Moreover, healthy
food choices outside the home also need to be made more readily available.

Psychological factors
Stress
Psychological stress is a common feature of modern life and can modify behaviours
that affect health, such as physical activity, smoking or food choice.
The influence of stress on food choice is complex not least because of the various types
of stress one can experience. The effect of stress on food intake depends on the
individual, the stressor and the circumstances. In general, some people eat more and
some eat less than normal when experiencing stress.
The proposed mechanisms for stress induced changes in eating and food choice are
motivational differences (reduced concern about weight control), physiological (reduced
appetite caused by the processes associated with stress) and practical changes in eating
opportunities, food availability and meal preparation.
Studies also suggest that if work stress is prolonged or frequent, then adverse dietary
changes could result, increasing the possibility of weight gain and consequently
cardiovascular risk.
Mood
Hippocrates was the first to suggest the healing power of food, however, it was not
until the middle ages that food was considered a tool to modify temperament and
mood. Today it is recognized that food influences our mood and that mood has a
strong influence over our choice of food.
Interestingly, it appears that the influence of food on mood is related in part to attitudes
towards particular foods. The ambivalent relationship with food – wanting to enjoy it but
conscious of weight gain is a struggle experienced by many. Dieters, people with high
restraint and some women report feeling guilty because of not eating what they think they
should. Moreover, attempts to restrict intake of certain foods can increase the desire for
these particular foods, leading to what are described as food cravings.
Women more commonly report food cravings than do men. Depressed mood appears to
influence the severity of these cravings. Reports of food cravings are also more common
in the premenstrual phase, a time when total food intake increases and a parallel change
in basal metabolic rate occurs.
Thus, mood and stress can influence food choice behaviour and possibly short- and long-
term responses to dietary intervention.

10 Tips for healthy eating

1. Always eat breakfast – Studies show that individuals who eat a substantial
breakfast lose more weight than those who have a small breakfast.
2. Eat your fruit and vegetables – Aim for three cups of vegetables and two fruits
each day. Fill half of your plate with veggies at lunch and dinner and add fruit to
your breakfast and for a snack.
3. Take time to shop each week – If the food is not in the house, how can you eat
well? Schedule in time to shop each week.
4. Walk for 10,000 steps or exercise for an hour each day – A pedometer is extremely
useful in providing feedback in how many steps you are racking each and every
day.
5. Sit down at the table to eat – Not only do you eat more slowly and often less food,
but you’ll enjoy the social experience of dinning.
6. Always carry a protein-rich snack with you – This way you’ll avoid eating high-fat
food on the run. Great options to keep handy include nut or protein-based snack
bars, hard fruit like apple.
7. Have green tea after every meal – Green tea is high in antioxidants and can help
increase metabolic rate.
8. Always carry a water bottle – Drink at least two bottles of water a day instead of
juice or soft drinks.
9. Choose wholegrain, low- Gi bread and breakfast cereal – Aim for the best-quality
breads, crackers and breakfast cereals as these are foods, we eat every day.
10. Always eat carbohydrates and proteins together.

Benefits of healthy eating

Increased energy – It takes about 21 days to learn a new habit, so by limiting sugary items
and processed carbohydrates your energy will increase
Improved mood – Eating poorly can negatively impact your mood and emotional state,
but once you start eating healthy you will feel better from clean eating.
Brighter, clearer skin – Water flushes toxins from your body while antioxidants and anti-
inflammatory properties found in fruits and vegetables immediately improve the look of
your skin.
Better fitting clothes – You will likely notice a difference in how your clothes fits you even
before stepping on the scale.

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https://cleananddelicious.com/the-four-types-of-eating/
https://www.eufic.org/en/healthy-living/article/the-determinants-of-food-choice
https://www.fnri.dost.gov.ph/index.php/94-pinggang-pinoy/190-pinggang-pinoy