Eating a Healthy Diet

Healthy food for healthy teeth

• Generally, if you choose a well balanced range of foods and eat from all food groups in moderation then your general health and dental health will benefit
• Sugar causes tooth decay
• The secret to reducing the risk of decay is to reduce the number of sweet foods, drinks or snacks you have in a day
• Try to keep foods and drinks that contain sugar for mealtimes only
• Choose snacks and between-meal drinks that are free of sugar
• Many 'low-sugar' foods contain enough sugar to cause tooth decay
• Check for sugar in foods — look for these words on the ingredients panel—sucrose, fructose, glucose, syrup, honey

Healthy food for healthy bodies

Try to eat...

• Plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables
• Plenty of bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and other starchy foods—choose wholegrain varieties when you can
• Some milk and dairy foods
• Some meat, fish eggs, beans and other non-dairy sources of protein
• Just a small amount of foods and drinks that are high in fat and/or sugar

The picture below shows how much of each type of food to eat: