A well-balanced diet
To eat healthily you need to get the right balance between different foods. For most people, a well-balanced diet is one that is low in fat, sugar and salt, and high in fibre5. Your diet should also contain enough protein and a wide range of vitamins and minerals5.
It is important to remember that your body’s nutritional needs may vary depending on the type and severity of your condition. Particularly, if you are unwell and losing weight you may need to vary your diet from the recommendations below. Please refer to the 'Coping with eating difficulties' section for more advice in those circumstances.
Below we explain the five food groups, each one providing a different combination of the three essential nutrients – carbohydrates, fat and protein – as well as vitamins and minerals.
The eatwell plate, developed by the Department of Health, will help you to get a feel of how much you should eat from each food group to keep a good balance. For example, starchy foods should make up about a third of the food we eat, as should fruit and vegetables.
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Group 1. Bread, cereal, potatoes, rice, pasta, noodles, chapatti (starchy carbohydrates – good for slow release energy).
Choose one of these foods at each meal – they release energy slowly into the bloodstream. High-fibre versions will keep you feeling fuller for longer (if your appetite is poor or you can only manage small portions, too much fibre may not be advisable).
A lot of the fat we get from these foods is the fat we eat with them, such as butter on bread or potatoes, full cream milk on cereal or fat used in cooking5. Watch out for these added fats and opt for low fat versions (unless you have been advised by your doctor that you need to gain weight).
Group 2. Fruit and vegetables (high in fibre, vitamins and minerals).
Aim for five portions a day5. Fruit and vegetables provide essential vitamins and fibre, helping to protect the body against heart disease and some forms of cancer. A ‘portion’ is 80g or one of the following5:
- one glass (150ml) of fruit juice
three heaped tablespoons of vegetables – raw, cooked, frozen or canned
one dessert bowl of salad
one apple, orange, banana or similar sized fruit
two small fruits – plums, apricots
a small handful of grapes or cherries
a half-tin of tinned fruit in natural juice or dessert bowl of stewed fruit.
Group 3. Milk and dairy foods (high in protein, good for calcium for healthy bones and teeth and blood clotting)
Milk, yoghurt and cheeses are foods high in saturated fat. Eating small amounts (the eatwell plate shows the proportion of your meal which should be in this group) and choosing low-fat versions, will stop you from putting on excess weight. If you are underweight, adding foods such as butter and cream to meals can help to give you extra calories.
Group 4. Meat, poultry, fish, nuts, pulses, beans, tofu, eggs (high in protein).
All these foods provide protein. Beans and pulses also provide useful fibre, vitamins and minerals and are useful alternatives to meat if you are vegetarian. Try to have two helpings of protein-rich foods a day. If you are struggling to keep your weight up, you may need extra protein to help to re-build muscles.
Red meat is higher in fat than chicken and fish, but is a very good source of iron, so should be included in the diet at least twice a week. Try to grill, bake or poach food rather than frying.
Group 5. High-calorie foods, such as fried and sugary foods (high in saturated fat and sugar).
These foods include cakes, biscuits, chocolate, crisps, fried foods and pastries. These should be eaten in small amounts, or enjoyed occasionally as a treat5. However, if you are trying to increase your weight, you could increase the frequency of these foods.
The recommended daily amount of saturated fat is5:
- 30g saturated fat for the average man
20g saturated fat for the average woman.
Look at the labels on the packaging of the food you buy. This will tell you how much saturated fat (sat fat) is in the food5: high is more than 5g sat fat per 100g, low is 1.5g sat fat per 100g.
It is also important to watch your salt intake. The maximum amount of recommended daily salt for a healthy adult is 6g. This includes ‘hidden’ salt which is present in many prepared and packaged foods.
Some labels now have ‘traffic light’ colours on them which indicate if a food is high, medium or low in saturated fats, sugars and salt. Red = high, amber = medium, green = low5.
If you have advanced cirrhosis you may be advised to reduce your salt intake further (see ‘Cirrhosis and advanced liver disease’ section).
It is important to choose a variety of foods from the first four groups every day to get a wide range of nutrients10. However, your diet should also be designed around you and the needs of your condition.