This Is How the NHS Thinks You Should Diet

Following strict diets with complicated rules can get tiresome after the initial excitement. The NHS advises you to avoid fad diets and instead focus on eating a balanced diet of healthy wholefoods.

In the argument over good fats and bad fats, saturated fats are often placed in the latter category. Many who follow the ketogenic diet have benefited greatly from eating more of both saturated and unsaturated fats, but the NHS suggests keeping your intake between 20 and 30 grams daily, because it can cause heart disease and high cholesterol.

Common culprits you should be wary of when cutting down your saturated fat intake include foods such as coconut milk, bacon, cheese, coconut oil, ghee, and butter.

Although many people save their restaurant visits for "cheat days", if you follow the NHS's healthy eating advice, you can still eat out even when you don't have a day off.

The key to eating out and still being healthy involves simple tips such as swapping creamy desserts for plain fruit and asking for sauces to be served on the side rather than on the dish.

The NHS's catchy slogan is designed to encourage people to enrich their daily diets with five pieces of fibrous fruit and veg. According to the guidelines, an 80-gram serving of fresh fruit or veg qualifies as a portion.

Fruit can be full of sugar, though, so although dried fruit, smoothies, and juices can count toward your five a day, keep to the guidelines to avoid overdoing it.

Eating too much salt can affect the health of your heart by causing things such as high blood pressure and stiffening of the blood vessels. The NHS suggests that lowering your salt intake is one of the most important aspects of maintaining a healthy diet.

Limiting your salt intake doesn't mean confining your diet to bland, tasteless foods; instead, think of it as a chance to get creative with how you season your food.