Importance of the Five Food Groups
The five food groups are essential to include in your daily diet as they support healthy eating, meal choice and preparation. They can help you work out what should go onto a plate to support meal planning. The five food groups are:
- Vegetables and legumes
- Fruit
- Grain (cereal) foods
- Lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds, and legumes/ beans
- Milk, yogurt, cheese and alternatives
The Five Food Groups Explained
- Vegetables and legumes/beans: vegetables should make up a large part of your daily food intake and should be encouraged at every meal (including snack times). They provide vitamin, minerals, dietary fibre and phytonutrients (nutrients naturally present in plants) to help your body stay healthy.
- Fruit: fruit provides vitamins minerals, dietary fibre and many phytonutrients naturally present in plants.
- Grain (cereal) foods: It is recommended to choose wholegrain and high fibre varieties of breads, cereals, rice, pasta, and noodles. Refined grain products such as cakes or biscuits can be high in sugar, fat, and sodium.
- Lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts, seeds and legumes/beans: our bodies are made up of protein and protein, used to make specialised chemical for our blood and body. Protein also builds, maintains, and repairs the tissues in our body.
- Milk, yogurt, cheese, and alternatives: this food group is high in calcium and protein for healthy bones and teeth.
Church Resources is pleased to invite you to our FREE Foodservices Webinar on 4 November specifically about the nutrition in schools and the issues faced by the Education sector for our members. To register, please click here.
Hosted by our Foodservice Ambassador, Dr Karen Abbey, who understands first-hand the Foodservices challenges in the Education sector.
In this event, you will learn how to understand:
- The Australian Dietary Guidelines
- The five food groups
- Discretionary foods
- Nutrient criteria
- Health Star Rating
- Balancing your menu
Blog written by Dr Karen Abbey – Procurement Australasia Foodservice Ambassador
Join our FREE Education Webinar – “Nutrition in School Canteens”
When: November 4 (2.00 pm – 3.30 pm AEDT)
Procurement Australasia’s Foodservice Ambassador, Dr Karen Abbey will be hosting a FREE webinar specifically catered to the issues faced by the Education sector.
