Healthy eating habits/The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating and kilojoule content in everyday foods

Why eat a wide variety of healthy foods?
Enjoying and eating a wide range of fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains is important and beneficial for many reasons. Eating nutritiously encourages healthy aging and higher energy levels, as well as lowering the risk for chronic diseases and some cancers. To be specific, there is evidence that consumption of high amounts of ‘colourful’ vegetables and fruits lowers the risk of arthritis, CVD, asthma and chronic bronchitis. The reasons for this association is due to fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes being highly concentrated with organic compounds such as antioxidants, dietary fibre and phytoestrogens.

Antioxidants
Antioxidants are compounds which protect the body from free radicals. Free radicals are molecules that are produced during the break down of food and exposure to environmental pathogens, such as radiation and tobacco smoke. Antioxidant help with the reduced risk of chronic diseases by breaking down these free radicals which can damage healthy cells, increase the risk of heart disease and cancer. Antioxidant substances found in fruits and vegetables include: Vitamin B, Vitamin E and Vitamin C (Website 1)

Dietary Fibre
Dietary Fibre is an indigestible percentage of plant foods, such as fruits and vegetables. Its role in healthy living is that it supports healthy digestion within the intestinal tract and it binds to and extracts carcinogens, bile acid, excess hormones and toxins from the body through digestion.

Phytoestrogens
Phytoestrogens are a phytonutrients which are found in plant foods. Phytoestrogens, such as isoflavones and lignans have been associated with the reduced risk of cancers, such as breast cancer as isoflavones modulate hormonal activity to reduce possible damaging effects.

Food energy/Kilojoules
We eat food to fuel our bodies for energy, growth and repair. Carbohydrates, proteins and fats are broken down by the digestive system into their simplest components: simple sugars, amino acids and fatty acids. Carbohydrates are the body’s preferred fuel, although proteins and fats can also be converted into energy. Food energy is measured in kilojoules (kJ).

A kilojoule is a unit of energy. It also refers to the energy value of food and the amount of energy our bodies burn. The alternative measurement of energy is a calorie. The difference between a calorie and a kilojoule is the 1 calorie is equal to 4.184 kilojoules.

How many kilojoules show I be consuming?
According to the Australian New Zealand Standards Code a balanced diet of an average adult should contain approx. 8700 kilojoules per day. However, each individuals food energy need varies based on their activity levels and stages of life.

Examples: - Individuals who are highly active during the day in comparison to less active individuals require higher amounts of energy.

- Pregnant and breastfeeding women need more energy during certain stages of their reproductive lives. Approximately an increase of 1,800kJ during pregnancy and 2,000kJ during breast feeding.

- Young children and adolescents require higher amounts of energy to ensure healthy growth and development.

- Men tend to have higher energy requirements than women due to having more muscle tissue, the more muscle tissue to more kilojoules are burned.

- The elderly tend to have lower energy requirements due to reduced activity levels and muscle tissue loss.

The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating
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What/who is it for?
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Food Groups
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