Carried out by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Guide for a Healthy Nutrition represents probably the most extensive and important help you can get to lose weight and keep yourself in a good shape. Based on several scientific studies, the guide presents essential recommendations, so necessary for the prevention of severe illnesses, given that nutrition at global level is based on (too many) processed products, tasty, but full of fats, sugars and sodium. So, how do we keep a nutritional balance? 

What do we eat to stay healthy? 

The recommendations of the WHO specialists highlight the fact that a healthy diet must start from birth and must never end. Of course, factors such as the culture of each area, age or sex may bring certain amendments to the lifestyle. However, regardless of where we live, one thing is for sure. Unhealthy nutrition and the lack of physical exercises have become, unfortunately, a global threat, and solutions must be found fast for it. For you not to be one of the persons with health problems caused by a deficient nutrition, you must begin with complying with the recommendations of the Guide for a Healthy Nutrition. 

1. Eat 400g of fruits and vegetables every day. However, it is good to avoid as much as possible roots containing starch, WHO specialists say. Besides the fruits and vegetables you like, do not forget about leguminous vegetables (lentils, beans), nuts, integral cereals (oat, wheat, millet, brown rice or whole corn). 

2. How much sugar can you eat per day? We are sure this question comes to your mind often. We also find out from the World Health Organization that the daily energy intake of sugar must be between 5%-10%. And to make it even easier for you, we have an example for this. If you have a normal weight, you must eat approximately 2000 calories per day and, under these conditions, the sugar intake must not exceed 50g, meaning approximately 12 teaspoons of sugar. In your daily calculations, do not forget to take into account also the sugars from natural drinks or from honey. 

3. We talked about sugar, let's concentrate now on the salt, a terrible enemy of our health, especially since we exceed daily the admitted level because of processed food. And if you don't believe us, statistics show that a reduction of 5g per day from the sodium intake can prevent approximately 1,7 millions of deaths per year at global level. The WHO specialists say that you should not exceed 5g of salt per day (a teaspoon), regardless if you add it by yourself to your food or you take it from processed food. And if you ask yourself what kind of salt you should eat, let us tell you that the recommendation is iodized salt, considered to bring more benefits to the human organism. 

4. Fats represent an extremely important element for a enviable silhouette. The WHO Guide tells us that the daily intake of energy from fats must not exceed 30%. You must avoid saturated fats, which are to be found in butter, cream, cheese or high-fat meat. Trans fats are also a danger, as these exist in fried or baked foods, but also in frozen and precooked food. The healthy nutrition solution is represented by the unsaturated fats you can find in soy or olive oil, but also in avocados, nuts or fish.

We know what to eat, but how to cook them? 

A healthy meal can be easily transformed into a harmful one if the cooking method is wrong. Let's take a look at a few of the useful recommendations received from WHO concerning nutrition and lifestyle. 

  • Instead of frying certain foods, you can steam or boil them. 
  • If you have bought a high-fat meat, cut the fat from it before cooking it, not after! 
  • Be careful when using tomato sauce when you cook, as it contains a lot of salt. 
  • Besides nutrition, do not forget about daily exercises. Combining nutrition with sport is the key to good health and success. 

Weight loss and health program - 


Text: Roxana Chivu