Keep It Balanced means making informed choices and combining a sensible, balanced diet with appropriate exercise in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The food and beverages you consume put energy into your body and physical activity helps burn these calories. It's a simple formula: Energy In = Energy Out.

What are the Dietary Guidelines?

The USDA's Dietary Guidelines for Americans are science based recommendations for people ages two and up for choosing a nutritious diet, maintaining a healthy weight, getting enough physical activity, and keeping foods safe to avoid food borne illness. What are those recommendations?

  1. Eat a variety of high nutrient foods staying within your calorie needs for the day.
  2. Keep your body weight in a healthy range by balancing the amount of food you eat with the amount of energy you burn in your activities.
  3. Be sure to get regular physical activity - at least 30 to 90 minutes on most days of the week to manage your weight.
  4. Eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low fat or fat free dairy foods.
  5. Eat just the right amount of fat and the right kinds of fats -20-35 percent of your total calories as fat and less than 10 percent as saturated fats.
  6. Carbohydrates are a good part of a balanced diet, so choose them wisely. Choose fiber rich fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
  7. Consume less than 2300mg of sodium or about one teaspoon per day.
  8. If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation.
  9. Keep foods safe to eat by washing your hands frequently; keeping food and surfaces for food prep clean; separate raw, cooked and ready to eat foods; cook foods at safe temperatures; chill perishable food promptly and defrost food properly.

This is a simplified summary of the Dietary Guidelines. The expanded summary can be found at http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/html/executivesummary.htm