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The 20-Day Health Challenge provides goals for the minimum number of servings of various foods that you should strive to consume each day. The exact number of servings you require will depend on a variety of factors, including your activity level, age, basal metabolic rate or whether you are trying to lose or gain weight. Each person should strive for the following: · Eat the minimum number of servings, particularly in terms of vegetables and fruit as well as whole-grains. It is these food groups especially that are linked to many health-boosting and illness prevention benefits. · Be physically active for a minimum of 20-30 minutes each day, even if that time is broken up into smaller intervals. (For example, 5-10 minutes at a time, several times a day) You can use the Sample Menus provided in the Participants’ Only section of the website to help make healthy balanced selections to meet these minimum requirements. Remember the four basic food groups and the variety of nutrients they provide: Fruits and Vegetables: vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, protein and a variety of other compounds that enhance health and may help to prevent disease (such as antioxidants). NOTE: This is probably the MOST important group of foods for health and well-being but also the one we tend to eat the least amount of. Grains (Whole-Grains): carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, minerals and other health-promoting compounds. Dairy and non-dairy alternatives: mainly minerals (especially calcium), vitamins, protein. Meat and Alternatives: mainly protein Other Foods: There are many other types of foods that provide our bodies with nutrients. However, these foods are not part of the basic food groups. For example, olive oil provides a healthy fat source. Some of these foods do not provide any useful nutrients – for example, ketchup. |
What is a serving? A serving is a suggested portion size for a food or drink. The 20-Day Health Challenge encourages you to eat or drink a certain number of servings of a variety of healthy foods each and every day – fruits and vegetables, whole-grain products, sources of calcium and sources of protein. Why are serving sizes important? Many people do not eat the minimum number of servings of many types of healthy foods (such as fruits and vegetables, for example) that provide the nutrients needed for your body to function at its best (and in the case of young people, to grow and develop optimally). The nutrients provided by foods from the basic food groups, in combination with other factors (such as regular physical activity and not smoking, for example) can help prevent disease and illness in addition to other benefits. Instead, many people consume too many empty-calorie foods (such as fast food, candy, soda pop, potato chips, fries, and so on) that provide little or no nutrition and excess calories in the form of sugar or unhealthy types of fats (such as trans or saturated fats). An excessive intake of empty-calorie foods, combined with a lack of physical activity are two of the main factors that contribute to weight gain / obesity in addition to a host of other health issues, including cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes, even in young people. Serving sizes provide a means of gauging energy intake. Food provides energy, which is typically measured in calories. Different people have different energy needs. For example, a 17-year old teenager who is playing sports every day will need to eat more to keep his or her energy levels up than someone who sits in front of a computer all day long. It is difficult to say exactly how much food each person should eat or exactly how much they should drink because individual energy needs are so different. Serving sizes give you an idea of how much you are actually
eating and drinking. For example, if you were to buy and then
drink a 500ml (16oz.) carton of chocolate milk, you would actually
be having 2 servings of milk because 1 serving = 250ml. (8oz.)
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