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He Nutritional Value of The Major Food Groups

A balanced diet is essential for good health, incorporating major food groups to ensure a range of nutrients that prevent disease. The USDA's MyPlate guide helps individuals choose healthy foods, emphasizing the importance of protein, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy, and healthy fats. Each food group provides specific vitamins and minerals that contribute to overall health, and it is recommended to consume a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables daily.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
19 views8 pages

He Nutritional Value of The Major Food Groups

A balanced diet is essential for good health, incorporating major food groups to ensure a range of nutrients that prevent disease. The USDA's MyPlate guide helps individuals choose healthy foods, emphasizing the importance of protein, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy, and healthy fats. Each food group provides specific vitamins and minerals that contribute to overall health, and it is recommended to consume a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables daily.

Uploaded by

mazziimmaculate
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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he Nutritional Value

of the Major Food


Groups
By Jody Braverman, CPT, FNS, RYT Reviewed by Sylvie Tremblay, MSc
A broccoli and quinoa salad can help you in your quest for a balanced diet.
Image Credit: nata_vkusidey/iStock/Getty Images

A balanced diet is the cornerstone of good health. Eating a varied


diet that includes the major food groups ensures you get the
spectrum of macronutrients and micronutrients crucial for
preventing disease. To make the food groups and the nutritional
value of food items easier to understand, the United States
Department of Agriculture developed the MyPlate food reference,
which replaces the old food pyramid. Using this as a guide makes it
easier to choose healthy things to eat at every meal.

Read more: What Are the Benefits of a Balanced Diet?


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Nutritional Value of Protein Foods


Protein is typically the centerpiece of a meal. A filet of fish, a
chicken breast or an egg can be the main event, while vegetables
and grains serve as accompaniments. There's a good reason for
that: Proteins and their constituent amino acids are the building
blocks of the body, forming the tissue that makes up bones,
muscles, skin, organs and hair. Protein is also crucial for healthy
immune function.

Protein foods — which include beans, nuts and seeds in addition to


fish, meat and eggs — are rich in certain vitamins and minerals,
including:

 B vitamins: Aid metabolism and energy production.


 Vitamin E: A powerful antioxidant that fights free radicals
that contribute to disease formation.
 Iron: Helps provide your muscles with oxygen and
supports metabolism.
 Magnesium: Plays a role in protein synthesis, muscle and
nerve control, and blood sugar regulation.
 Zinc: Supports healthy immune function and wound
healing.

Healthy Whole Grains


Each meal should include some foods from the grains group, such as
rice, bread or cereal. Grains provide carbohydrates — the energy
your body relies on to get through the day. Grains are also good
sources of B vitamins and selenium, a mineral that plays important
roles in reproduction and protects against oxidative damage and
infection.

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Grains are a good source of dietary fiber as well. This type of
carbohydrate isn't digested and contributes few calories. Instead, it
travels through the digestive system and adds bulk to stool, making
it easier to pass. Fiber also helps lower cholesterol because it
prevents some cholesterol from being absorbed into the
bloodstream.

The most important thing to know about the grains group is that not
all grains are created equal. When grains are processed, their germ
and bran are removed, leaving only the starchy endosperm behind.
However, the bran and germ contain most of the nutrients and fiber.
Whole grains, on the other hand, have not been stripped of
nutrients. They are a much richer source of vitamins and minerals,
and their fiber content is significantly higher. The USDA
recommends that at least half of your daily grains come from whole
grains — but more is better.
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Read more: The Functions of the Six Major Food Groups

Fruit and Vegetable Benefits


Fruits and vegetables are nutrient powerhouses — full of vitamins,
minerals, fiber and antioxidants that fight disease. Filling the
majority of your plate with fruits and vegetables at every meal will
dramatically improve your health, because they're rich sources of
several crucial nutrients:

 Vitamin C: A potent antioxidant that fights free radicals


and is essential for the synthesis of collagen, which makes
up connective tissue and aids wound healing.
 Vitamin A: The vision vitamin, which also supports immune
function, reproduction and cell communication.
 Potassium: A mineral that balances sodium in the blood
and aids in nerve and muscle function.
 Folate: An important vitamin for growth and
development and prevention of birth defects.

Some of the best superfoods belong to the fruit and vegetable


group. Superfoods are especially rich sources of nutrients and
include foods such as blueberries, kale and acai berries. Try to
include some of these foods in your daily meal plan.

The USDA recommends that adults get 1 1/2 to 2 cups of fruits each
day and 2 to 3 cups of vegetables each day. It's important to eat
fruits and veggies of all different colors, because their colors are
indicative of the type of phytochemicals they contain. Each
phytochemical plays an important role in fighting disease.

Healthy Dairy and Oils


Not all fats are bad, and some are essential to the optimal
functioning of your heart and brain. As opposed to saturated and
trans fats, found in fatty meats and junk food, the monounsaturated
and polyunsaturated fats in oils, such as olive and canola, help lower
bad LDL cholesterol and raise healthy HDL cholesterol. Healthy fats
are also found in nuts, seeds and fatty fish.

Dairy foods are rich sources of calcium, which you need for strong
bones, and a source of vitamin D that works with calcium to build
bone health. Fermented dairy products, such as yogurt and kefir,
are good sources of probiotics that improve gut health. Dairy is also
high in fat and saturated fat, so it's recommended that you choose
low-fat and nonfat versions of milk and yogurt and limit your intake
of cheese, sour cream and other high-fat dairy foods.

Read more: What Food Groups Are Carbohydrates Found In?

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