The Dietary Guidelines are intended for healthy adult Singaporeans between the age of 18 to 65 years and are meant to be applied to the total diet. Here’s how you can follow the guidelines whilst enjoying your delicious bowl of Singaporean food.
1. Eat a Variety of Foods using the Healthy Diet Pyramid as a Guide.
How to do this: There’s so much variety available in our hawker centres and restaurants. Looking for something cheap? Try Fish Ball Soup with Bee Hoon. The deliciously savoury fish broth will warm not just your stomach but your soul. Looking for more variety? How about Poh piah? The light snack can be eaten as a meal if you take two or three rolls. What about a light snack after dinner? Try a yoghurt. These days, yoghurt stalls are scattered all around the nation, almost as easily available as McD’s!
2. Achieve and Maintain Body Weight Within the Normal Range.
How to do this: First, calculate your BMI using Body Mass Index. If you find that you are overweight, you are more prone to disease. Hence, you should work towards achieving a weight in the normal range. Gradually cut back on fatty or unhealthy foods and increase the amount of exercise you do everyday, or start exercising if you have not already.
3. Eat Sufficient Amounts of Grains, especially Whole Grains.
How to do this: Choose rice or bread with more fibre. These include Whole grain, brown rice or rolled oats. There is wide selection of the kind of grains you can get these days. Incorporating this into your daily diet is easy, enjoying it first thing in the morning with a bowl of oats and honey is suffice to keep you full till your next meal a few hours later. Replace white rice and white bread with whole meal grains in your next meals.
4. Eat More Fruit and Vegetables Every Day
How to do this: Include a fruit in all your meals. Replace unhealthy snacks like potato chips and ice cream with a delicious bowl of fruit. Note that fruit drinks do not have the same nutrition value as that of a fruit. It is still better to have a whole slice of fruit. Eating an apple alone does not keep the doctor away, you have to have more, and have a variety, so your taste buds do not get bored.
5. Choose and Prepare Food with Less Fat, especially Saturated Fat
How to do this: In Singapore, it is virtually impossible to ignore food. There is food everywhere. Many are served especially with too much oil, salt and sugar. There are many ways of incorporating more flavour without the use of oils and others. Use what nature has given us. Carrots and fruits can provide much flavour to a dish. Herbs are a good option too, considering that they are free of calories. Olive oil is another great option compared to canola oil or peanut oil.
6. Choose and Prepare Food with Less Salt and Sauces.
How to do this: As mentioned above, the use of many natural ingredients can greatly enhance the flavour of a dish. Try learning to appreciate the natural flavours of a dish. Choose fresh ingredients like fish and vegetables. You can achieve maximum flavour by using simple cooking methods.
7. Choose Beverages and Food with Less Sugar.
How to do this: Water should be your number one choice when it comes to choices for thirst quenchers. You can easily increase the taste of water by drinking tea (without additional sugar), putting lemons into ice water. Should you require a sweet drink, I recommend the use of iced honey drink. It is both healthy and nutrition, although it could help pile on the calories if over consumed.
8. If You Drink Alcoholic Beverages, Do So in Moderation.
How to do this: There is no way around this, one should not over consume alcohol. We know all to well the disadvantages of alcohol. Go for healthier drinks, there are other ways to get the kind of high you can get from alcohol such as doing sports. Drinking alcohol only during social events, and do so in moderation.
Source:
Dietary Guidelines 2003: For Adult Singaporeans (18 - 65 years) - Health Promotion Board, Singapore
As you can see, much of following the guidelines can be easily achieved by tweaking your lifestyle here and there. We should all aim for a healthier lifestyle so that we can carry out daily activities with better ease, and as an insurance against disease and illness.
1. Eat a Variety of Foods using the Healthy Diet Pyramid as a Guide.
How to do this: There’s so much variety available in our hawker centres and restaurants. Looking for something cheap? Try Fish Ball Soup with Bee Hoon. The deliciously savoury fish broth will warm not just your stomach but your soul. Looking for more variety? How about Poh piah? The light snack can be eaten as a meal if you take two or three rolls. What about a light snack after dinner? Try a yoghurt. These days, yoghurt stalls are scattered all around the nation, almost as easily available as McD’s!
2. Achieve and Maintain Body Weight Within the Normal Range.
How to do this: First, calculate your BMI using Body Mass Index. If you find that you are overweight, you are more prone to disease. Hence, you should work towards achieving a weight in the normal range. Gradually cut back on fatty or unhealthy foods and increase the amount of exercise you do everyday, or start exercising if you have not already.
3. Eat Sufficient Amounts of Grains, especially Whole Grains.
How to do this: Choose rice or bread with more fibre. These include Whole grain, brown rice or rolled oats. There is wide selection of the kind of grains you can get these days. Incorporating this into your daily diet is easy, enjoying it first thing in the morning with a bowl of oats and honey is suffice to keep you full till your next meal a few hours later. Replace white rice and white bread with whole meal grains in your next meals.
4. Eat More Fruit and Vegetables Every Day
How to do this: Include a fruit in all your meals. Replace unhealthy snacks like potato chips and ice cream with a delicious bowl of fruit. Note that fruit drinks do not have the same nutrition value as that of a fruit. It is still better to have a whole slice of fruit. Eating an apple alone does not keep the doctor away, you have to have more, and have a variety, so your taste buds do not get bored.
5. Choose and Prepare Food with Less Fat, especially Saturated Fat
How to do this: In Singapore, it is virtually impossible to ignore food. There is food everywhere. Many are served especially with too much oil, salt and sugar. There are many ways of incorporating more flavour without the use of oils and others. Use what nature has given us. Carrots and fruits can provide much flavour to a dish. Herbs are a good option too, considering that they are free of calories. Olive oil is another great option compared to canola oil or peanut oil.
6. Choose and Prepare Food with Less Salt and Sauces.
How to do this: As mentioned above, the use of many natural ingredients can greatly enhance the flavour of a dish. Try learning to appreciate the natural flavours of a dish. Choose fresh ingredients like fish and vegetables. You can achieve maximum flavour by using simple cooking methods.
7. Choose Beverages and Food with Less Sugar.
How to do this: Water should be your number one choice when it comes to choices for thirst quenchers. You can easily increase the taste of water by drinking tea (without additional sugar), putting lemons into ice water. Should you require a sweet drink, I recommend the use of iced honey drink. It is both healthy and nutrition, although it could help pile on the calories if over consumed.
8. If You Drink Alcoholic Beverages, Do So in Moderation.
How to do this: There is no way around this, one should not over consume alcohol. We know all to well the disadvantages of alcohol. Go for healthier drinks, there are other ways to get the kind of high you can get from alcohol such as doing sports. Drinking alcohol only during social events, and do so in moderation.
Source:
Dietary Guidelines 2003: For Adult Singaporeans (18 - 65 years) - Health Promotion Board, Singapore
As you can see, much of following the guidelines can be easily achieved by tweaking your lifestyle here and there. We should all aim for a healthier lifestyle so that we can carry out daily activities with better ease, and as an insurance against disease and illness.
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