The following guidelines should help you design and stick to a well-balanced diet:

• When choosing breads, cereals, rice, and pasta, always choose whole-grain, high-fiber, low-fat varieties, preferably without added sugar, coloring, or unnecessary preservatives. Choose brown rice over white rice, and whole-grain pastas over pastas made from white flour.
• Eat your vegetables and fruits fresh and, preferably, raw as often as possible. Water-soluble vitamins such as vitamin C may leach out of foods during cooking, be damaged by overprocessing, or be destroyed when foods are overcooked. Even fat-soluble vitamins, which are fairly stable during low-temperature cooking, can be affected by frying. For this reason, it is best to steam or microwave vegetables rather than boiling or frying them. And, unless produce is organically grown, be sure to peel or thoroughly wash it before eating to reduce such unwanted elements as waxes and pesticides residue.
• Select low-fat and nonfat varieties of milk, yogurt, and cheese. These provide the most nutrients and the least amount of fat. When eating meat, poultry, or fish, choose the leanest cuts available, trim off any excess fat, and bake or broil the foods instead of frying them.

Select as few foods as possible from the fats, oils, and sweets category. When you do use fats and oils, choose monosaturated and polyunsaturated fats instead of saturated ones. Limit your intake of sweets. Choose fresh fruits instead of cakes, cookies, and other high-fat desserts.

Food labeling

Food labels are required to include a “Nutrition Facts” section that identifies how many servings are found in each container, and how much of the following components each serving contains:

For the last four nutrients, the amount is expressed only as a percentage of Daily Value – a recommended daily intake based on a 2,000-calorie diet. For most of the other nutrients listed, the amount is expressed both in grams or milligrams and as a percentage of its Daily Value. Reference values are provided to show how much total fat, saturated fat, cholestrol, sodium, total carbohydrates, and dietary fiber should be included in both a 2,000 calorie and a 2,500-calorie diet.

Then there are the numerous potentially confusing terms you find sprinked across food labels. What many people do not know is that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has actually standardized some of the terms used on the labels of products it regulates, as well as on processed meat products that are regulated by the USDA. Following are definitions of some of the most frequently used terms:

Free: This means that the product contains no amount of, or only “physiologically inconsequential” amounts of, one or more of these components: fat, saturated fat, cholestrol, sodium, sugars, and calories. For instance, “calorie-free” means that there are fewer than 5 calories per serving. “Sugar-free” and “fat-free” indicate that there is less than 1/2 gram per serving of sugar and fat, respectively.

Low: This means the food can be eaten frequently without exceeding dietary guidelines for one or more of the following: fat, saturated fat, cholestrol, sodium, and calories. Thus, the following terms are used:
Low fat. 3 grams or less per serving.
Low saturated fat. 1 gram or less per serving
Low sodium. Less than 140 milligrams per serving.
Very low sodium. Less than 35 milligrams per serving.
Low cholestrol. Less than 20 milligrams per serving.
Low calorie. 40 calories or less per serving.

Lean and extra lean: The following terms can be ued to describe the fat content of meat, poultry, seafood, and game meats:
Lean. Less than 10 grams of fat, less than 4 grams of saturated fat, and less than 95 milligrams of cholestrol per serving and per 100 grams.
Extra lean. Less than 5 grams of fat, less than 2 grams of saturated fat, and less than 95 milligrams of cholestrol per serving and per 100 grams.

High: This means that one serving of the food contains 20 percent of more of the recommended daily intake of a particular nutrient.

Good source: This means that one serving of the food contains 10 to 19 percent of the recommended daily intake of a particular nutrient.

Reduced: This term denotes a nutritionally altered product that contains 25% less of a nutrient or of calories than the regular, or reference, product.

Less: This denotes a food, whether altered or not, that contains 25% less of a nutrient or of calories than the reference food.

Light: This designates a nutritionally altered product containing one-third fewer calories or half the fat of the reference food, or a low calorie, low-fat food whose sodium content has been reduced by 50 percent.

More: This means that one serving of the food, altered or not, contains a nutrient in a quantity that is at least 10 percent more than the reference food of the recommended daily intake.