Not only will a healthy diet keep you fit and well it will also help prevent future health problems such as cancer and heart diseases developing. Of course a healthy diet is only part of the picture. You also need to adopt a healthy lifestyle by stopping smoking and reducing alcohol consumption. It is also important that you adopt some form of exercise program even if it is something as simple as three or four short walks a week.

However, unless you have a healthy diet you will never fully benefit from any other steps that you take to improve your health and fitness. So here are some tips on how to improve your diet:

1. Cut down on your meat consumption. Whilst meat is high in protein it can also contains a high level of fat. When you eat meat you should look for as lean a cut as possible. Venison is a very lean meat whilst lamb tends to have a higher fat content. Less meat and more fresh vegetables is an easy change you can make to your diet.

2. Five a day. It seems that the experts all agree that a 5 a day fruit and vegetable plan is the correct way forward. Basically we should all ensure that we eat five portions of fruit or vegetable a day. This can include frozen vegetable but fresh is still the best option. If you prefer just one of the portions could be in the form of fresh fruit juice.

3. Minimal Cooking. Fresh food is full of vitamins and minerals but the easy way to destroy these is to overcook the food.

4. Eat more chicken and fish. To make up for cutting down on red meat you should eat more chicken (minus the skin) and fish particularly oily varieties. These days some fish such as cod, salmon and tuna can be expensive but many cheaper fish are available from supermarkets. Even fish such as sardines are very good for you but you should avoid the tinned varieties packed in oil or tomato source.

5. Add Fibre. It is important that you have enough fibre in your diet and this can be found in some breakfast cereals, fruit and vegetables and wholemeal bread.

These are simple changes to the diet that we can all make to our diets. None of the changes are expensive or difficult but they can make an enormous difference to our health and well being.

About the Author

Dave Bromley is based in England and has been a keen racing fan for many years. After spending over 30 years in the Royal Air Force he was able to devote more time in studying horse racing and betting.