Nutrition facts and eating smart

Dietary guidelines for Americans

• Eat a variety of foods
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Choose a diet low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol
• Choose a diet with plenty of vegetables, fruits, and grain products
• Use sugars only in moderation
• Use salt and sodium only in moderation
• If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation

• Foods like bread, potatoes, or spaghetti are not fattening. It is what you add to them that make them high in calories. For example, a baked potato has a lot more calories if you add butter or margarine.

• Plain baked potato: 100 calories

• Baked potato with 1 tablespoon of butter : 200 calories

• Baked potato with 2 tablespoons of butter: 300 calories

• Eating smaller servings of food will help you lose weight

• A small serving has fewer calories than a large serving

• Here are some easy ways to lower the fat in your meals

• Use less butter and margarine

• Use skim or lowfat milk

• Bake foods instead of frying them

• Trim the fat off of meats before cooking

• A product that says "cholesterol-free" can still be high in fat. Look for nutrition information on the label.

• Here are some ways you can use fruits in your meals:

• At breakfast use fruit in cereal, muffins, or pancakes

• At lunch pack an apple, banana, or orange in your lunch bag

• At dinner add crushed pineapple to coleslaw

• For snacks spread peanut butter on apple slices

• Dark-green vegetables like broccoli collards spinach and others have vitamins A and C, B vitamins, iron, and calcium

• Deep-yellow vegetables like carrots, yams, and others have vitamin A

• Starchy vegetables like potatoes, corn lima beans, and others have B vitamins and more.

• Simple things added to vegetables can add to their flavor. Try:

• Sprinkling ground cloves over baked sweet potatoes and acorn squash.

• Mixing a little oregano with cooked cabbage.

• Adding cooked chopped onion to cooked peas.

• Cooking carrots with crushed pineapple or pineapple juice.

(Reprinted with permission from the United States Department of Agriculture)

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