Dietitians’ Association of Sri Lanka
Dietitians’ Association of Sri Lanka
We know that what we eat affects our health no matter what age we are and no matter whether we are well or suffering with a disease. Food and nutrition is part of everyday life. We are surrounded by information about food and nutrition but often we need help to make the right food choices to maximize our health and know what’s fact or fiction.
Make you daily meal as a balance diet including cereal, legumes, vegetables, fruits, fish/meat/egg like animal protein sources as well as milk and milk products
When you eat cereal based stuffs try to select whole grain cereal and their products instead refined cereals Eg:
- Parboiled rice instead of polished rice,
- Wholegrain bread instead white bread
- Red rice flour, kurakkan flour, Atta flour, black gram flour insteadof white rice flour or refined wheatflour for preparations like Rotti, Chapathi, String hoppers and Pittu etc.
- When you eat cereal or cereal based foods as your main meal always try to incorporate them with vegetables.
- Sweet potato, Manioc and other yams can also be incorporatedin to your main meals in order to have a variety in your regular meals
- Incorporate variety of fruits at least 2-3 times per day as fresh fruits or fruit salads.
- Eat variety of non-starchy vegetables including green leafy vegetables at least 3-5 servings per day.
- Try to have vegetables with each and every major meal (1 serving of vegetable = ½ cup of cooked, 1 cup of raw vegetables)
- Incorporate animal protein sourcesfish, meat and eggs to your daily meal at least twice or thrice a day.
- When you select meat try to have lean cuts of meat such as skinned chicken and reduce consumption of red meat varieties such as beef, mutton, pork etc
- Incorporate legumes such as green gram, cawpea, chick pea, soy beans, in to your daily meal as it is rich in fiber as well as protein.
- Consume milk and milk products every day(1-2times).
- Try to select nonfat or low fat products instead of full cream milk if you should limit the saturated fat
intake in conditions such as weight reduction, diabetes and dyslipidemia
Eg: Nonfat milk powder, nonfat or low fat liquid milk, low fat cheese, low fat yoghurt, low fat curd & etc.
- Limit intake of added sugar and reduce consumption of sweets, chocolate, toffee, honey, soft drinks and ready to serve beverages which are high in added sugar.
- When you prepare your day to day meals use healthy preparation method like baking, grilling and roasting instead of deep frying or tempering
- Try to limit consumption of deep fried foods such as rolls, pastries, patties, wade, bites, mixture packets, potato chips, french fries, fried chicken, fried fish & etc
- Minimize the consumption of unhealthy saturated fat rich fat spreads, butter, cheese, margarine, mayonnaise, and salad dressings. If necessary, replace them with healthy fat sources specially plant oil based fat spreads
- Be away from frequent consumption of restaurant foods like fried rice, kottu, parata, pizza, burger, hamburger & etc.
- Always check food labels when you purchase food items and avoid foods which are rich in added sugar, added salt and saturated fat.
- Drink at least 8 glasses (2-2.5L) of water daily.
- Engage in moderate physical activities specially walking for 30 minutes per day, for at least five days per week.
- Be away from smoking and alcohol consumption
Logo | Institution | Degree offered | Contact details |
 | Department of Applied Nutrition, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka | B. Sc (Food science and Nutrition) Specialized in Applied Nutrition | Postal Address: Faculty of Livestock Fisheries and Nutrition, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, Makadura, Gonawila,60170, Sri Lanka website: https://www.wyb.ac.lk Telephone: +94312299120 Fax: +94312299870Email: nutrition@mkd.wyb.ac.lk |
 | Postgraduate institute of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya | M. Sc (Food and Nutrition) | Postal Address: Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture, P.O.Box 55, Old Galaha Road, Peradeniya, Email: info@pgia.ac.lk |
 | Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya | M. Sc (Food and Nutrition) | Postal Address: University of Kelaniya, Kelaniya, 11600, Sri Lanka Email: info@kln.ac.lk |