Eating a healthy diet adds years to our lives while delaying, even preventing, disease processes. Most of us have bad eating habits due to our lifestyles. Eating well and maintaining a healthy weight could add both years and quality to the aging process. What does "eating well" meant to you?

The daily nutritional guidelines issued by the U.S. Deaprt of Health and Human Services include:

· Eat 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day.

· Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day to properly flush the systems of the body.

· Eat fish and chicken instead of red meat.

· Eat grains such as oats, millet, and wheat from breads, pasta or cereals.

· Eat breakfast: it sets the energy tone for the day.

· Make lunch your biggest meal; eat a light dinner, and a healthy snack in the evening.
Make smart choices from every food group.

The best way to give your body the balanced nutrition it needs is by eating a variety of nutrient-packed foods every day. Just be sure to stay within your daily calorie needs.

A healthy eating plan is one that:

* Emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products.
* Includes lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts.
* Is low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and added sugars.

Mix up your choices within each food group.

· Focus on fruits. Eat a variety of fruits—whether fresh, frozen, canned, or dried—rather than fruit juice for most of your fruit choices. For a 2,000-calorie diet, you will need 2 cups of fruit each day (for example, 1 small banana, 1 large orange, and 1/4 cup of dried apricots or peaches).

· Vary your veggies. Eat more dark green veggies, such as broccoli, kale, and other dark leafy greens; orange veggies, such as carrots, sweetpotatoes, pumpkin, and winter squash; and beans and peas, such as pinto beans, kidney beans, black beans, garbanzo beans, split peas, and lentils.

· Get your calcium-rich foods. Get 3 cups of low-fat or fat-free milk—or an equivalent amount of low-fat yogurt and/or low-fat cheese (1½ ounces of cheese equals 1 cup of milk)—every day. For kids aged 2 to 8, it's 2 cups of milk. If you don't or can't consume milk, choose lactose-free milk products and/or calcium-fortified foods and beverages.

· Make half your grains whole. Eat at least 3 ounces of whole-grain cereals, breads, crackers, rice, or pasta every day. One ounce is about 1 slice of bread, 1 cup of breakfast cereal, or ½ cup of cooked rice or pasta. Look to see that grains such as wheat, rice, oats, or corn are referred to as "whole" in the list of ingredients.

· Go lean with protein. Choose lean meats and poultry. Bake it, broil it, or grill it. And vary your protein choices—with more fish, beans, peas, nuts, and seeds.

- Know the limits on fats, salt, and sugars. Read the Nutrition Factslabel on foods. Look for foods low in saturated fats and trans fats. Chooseand prepare foods and beverages with little salt (sodium) and/or addedsugars (caloric sweeteners).