Men

Eating a balanced diet of carbohydrates, fat, protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals is important to maintain good health. It will also help reduce your risk of heart disease and certain cancers.

What to eat

A healthy balanced diet contains a variety of foods including plenty of fruit and vegetables, plenty of starchy foods such as wholegrain bread, pasta and rice, some protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, eggs and lentils and some milk and dairy foods. It should also be low in fat, salt and sugar.

You should aim to:

• Eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day. These can be fresh, frozen, tinned, dried or a glass of juice.
• Eat more starchy foods such as pasta, rice, potatoes, cereals and pulses (beans, peas and lentils). These should make up about a third of your diet.
• Eat more fish. Try to eat fish at least twice a week. You can eat up to four portions of oily fish a week, such as mackerel, sardines and trout, but avoid having more than this.
• Grill, bake, poach, boil, steam or microwave instead of frying or roasting. Or you could try 'dry roasting' without adding any fat.
• Cut down on foods that are high in saturated fat. Choose lower fat options such as semi-skimmed milk or reduced-fat cheese. You should also choose lean meat, and trim off the fat and any skin.
• Reduce the sugar in your diet.
• Don't add salt to your food when cooking and at the table and be more aware of the salt content of ready-prepared foods.
• You can drink up to 3 to 4 units of alcohol a day without significant risk to your health.
• Try to drink at least 6-8 cups of water a day or more if you exercise. If you don't like the taste of plain water, you could try sparkling water, or add some fruit juice for flavour. You could also try adding a slice of lemon or lime.

How much we should be eating changes over the years, during teenage the your body is still growing and combined with the active lifestyle of a teenager, means we need to take in enough food to meet our energy needs.

But at the end of the teenage years, on average, energy requirements are likely to be less and start to decline as we age.

Throughout your life you should adjust your overall intake of food according to how physically active you are, as we put on weight when our diet provides more energy than we use up.

And although you may have to adjust your overall intake of food, it is always important to ensure that your diet remains balanced right throughout life.

That means eating a wide variety of foods and ensuring you eat a balance of carbohydrates, protein, fat, fibre and vitamins and minerals.

What is a portion of fruit or vegetables?

One portion equals any of these:

• 1 apple, banana or orange
• 2 plums or other fruit of a similar size
• - a grapefruit or avocado
• 3 heaped tablespoons of vegetables (raw, cooked, frozen or tinned)
• 3 heaped tablespoons of fruit salad (fresh, stewed or tinned in fruit juice)
• 1 heaped tablespoon of dried fruit (such as raisins and apricots)
• 1 handful of grapes, cherries or berries
• 1 dessert bowl of salad
• 1 glass (150 ml) of fruit juice (however much you drink, fruit juice counts as a maximum of 1 portion a day)

Fat and salt

Fat

It's important to have some fat in your diet. Fat helps your body absorb certain vitamins, it's a good source of energy and also of the 'essential fatty acids' that the body is incapable of making itself.

But fat should make up no more than one third of the energy (or calories) in your diet. The average man eats more than this.

Try to cut down on fatty foods, especially those rich in saturated fats. These are particularly found in red meat, meat pies, sausages, butter, cheese, cakes and biscuits made with hydrogenated fats. Go for lower fat options such as, semi-skimmed milk or reduced-fat cheese, and choose lean meat, trimming off any fat and skin.

Try to choose foods high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat such as vegetable oils (olive and sunflower oil, for example).

Salt

On average, people in the UK eat about 8.6g salt a day. But adults should eat no more than 6g salt a day.

It's the sodium in salt that increases the risk of high blood pressure, and high blood pressure increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.

It's believed that, in part, our relatively high salt diets may contribute to the increases in blood pressure we see with age in our population.

75% of the salt we eat is already in the foods we buy. So it's important to check the label and try to choose the lower-salt option.

Potassium may help lower blood pressure. Fruit and vegetables are good sources of potassium.

You should be able to get all the potassium you need by eating a varied and balanced diet. But if you decide to take potassium supplements, it's a good idea not to take too much because this could be harmful.

Taking 3700 mg or less of potassium supplements a day is unlikely to cause any harm.

However, older people should seek medical advice before taking potassium supplements.

Men and women's diets

Men and women should both be eating a varied and balanced diet and both should try to avoid becoming overweight.

Men in particular should avoid excess weight gain as they are more prone to carry the extra weight in the abdominal area (also known as central obesity), commonly referred to as an 'apple' shape. Carrying excess weight in the stomach area increases your risk of developing heart disease and diabetes.

African-Caribbean and Asian men (Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi) appear to have an increased risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease and this may be related to a tendency to carry any excess weight in the abdominal area.

Being overweight also increases your risk of developing cancers. Severe obesity can place immense strain on your joints as well.

A high fat diet can contribute to your gaining excess weight as it may reduce your sensation of feeling full and so you may end up eating more food than you need. So try to make sure that your meals are made up of a balance of carbohydrates, protein, fat and fibre.

Alcohol

Men can drink up to 3 to 4 units of alcohol a day without significant risk to their health. A unit is half a pint of standard strength beer, lager or cider, or a pub measure of spirit. A glass of wine is about 2 units and alcopops are about 1.5 units.

Drinking too much alcohol can increase your weight, particularly around the abdominal area, as well as leading to other long-term health problems such as high blood pressure. To help you cut down, you could try drinking lower-strength drinks, drinking half pints instead of pints or alternating alcohol with non-alcoholic drinks.