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Healthful Eating

Abstract
Many people do not understand the food pyramid or how to eat nutritionally. The food pyramid has recently changed and now includes physical activity. There are many ways to begin changing one's diet. Simply by changing one thing at a time until it is habit will greatly benefit a person's health. Adding exercise, even just a 30-minute walk, will be beneficial to one's health. Making these changes can also affect various cancers and heart disease. While there are many different foods available, if a person can learn how to eat healthier, one can reduce the risk of certain diseases, lower stress, and have healthier bodies.

Healthful Eating
According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases [NIDDK], between 1960 and 2004, overweight adults have increased from 44.8 to 66 percent in the U.S. for people age 20 to 74. During this same time obesity among adults in this same age group more than doubled from 13.3 to 32.1 percent, in which most of this increase occurred since 1980. These are startling statistics. With all the information available on healthy eating, there are still many questions about what types of food are healthy and how much exercise is needed. The problem is there is so much information; people just do not know where to start. While there are many different foods available, if a person can learn how to eat healthier, one can reduce the risk of certain diseases, lower stress, and have healthier bodies.
Knowing the nutritional value of foods can help in the decision of what to prepare. Vegetables offer many nutrients, such as fiber, magnesium, folate, iron, potassium, and vitamins A and C. Eating vegetables that have a deep color, such as broccoli, sweet potatoes, and kidney beans, offer the greatest concentration of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants (Barston, Larson, Segal, & Segal, 2007). According to the United States Department of Agriculture [USDA], 2007), people need to consume less red...