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Eating Right

Home > Illnesses and Disabilities Home > Staying Healthy > Eating Right

Adopting a healthy eating plan can help you feel better, control your weight, and help prevent illnesses such as heart disease that can cause further disability.

A healthy eating plan includes:

• Fruits and vegetables
• Grains (at least half of your grains should be whole grains, such as whole wheat, whole oats, brown rice, wild rice, whole rye, buckwheat, and bulgur)
• Fat-free or low-fat versions of milk, cheese, yogurt, and other milk products
• Fish, skinless poultry, lean meats, dry beans, eggs, and nuts
• Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats (found in fish, nuts, and vegetable oils)

Also, you should limit the amount of foods you eat that contain:

• Saturated fat (found in foods such as fatty cuts of meat, whole milk, cheese made from whole milk, ice cream, sherbet, frozen yogurt, butter, lard, cakes, cookies, doughnuts, sausage, regular mayonnaise, coconut, palm oil)
• Trans fat (found mainly in processed foods such as cakes, cookies, crackers, pies, stick or hard margarine, potato chips, corn chips)
• Cholesterol (found in foods such as liver, chicken and turkey giblets, pork, sausage, whole milk, cheese made from whole milk, ice cream, sherbet, frozen yogurt)
• Sodium (found in salt and baking soda)
• Added sugars (such as corn syrup, corn sweetener, fructose, glucose, sucrose, dextrose, lactose, maltose, honey, molasses, raw sugar, malt syrup, caramel, and fruit juice concentrates)

Also, all women who are able to get pregnant should take 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid daily before getting pregnant and during the first three months of pregnancy. This will lower the risk of certain birth defects, including spina bifida. The easiest way to get enough folic acid is to take a multivitamin that contains 400 mcg of folic acid each day. You also can eat foods high in folic acid, such as:

• green leafy vegetables (spinach, turnip greens, collard greens)
• fruits (oranges, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, avocado)
• juices (orange, pineapple, tomato)
• beans and peas
• nuts and peanut butter
• breakfast cereals or grain products fortified with folic acid

Additional Resources

Publications

1.   Staying Active and Eating Healthy - This special section of our web site provides information on staying active and eating healthy. It also contains information about healthy dieting, healthy recipes, and vitamins and supplements.

   http://www.womenshealth.gov/FitnessNutrition/

2.   Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005 - This report provides advice about how good dietary habits can promote health and reduce risks for major chronic diseases.

   http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/

3.   Frequently Asked Questions - A Healthy Diet - This publication provides information on how women can maintain a healthy diet throughout their lives. It explains what a healthy portion is and how a healthy diet can help to reduce the risk of heart disease.

   http://www.womenshealth.gov/faq/diet.htm

4.   My Bright Future: Physical Activity and Healthy Eating for Adult Women - This booklet will help you learn more about the importance of physical activity and healthy eating in your daily life. It will also help you talk with your health care provider about these topics and set healthy goals. Included are personalized tip sheets that can help you meet your nutritional goals.

   http://www.hrsa.gov/WomensHealth/mybrightfutureadult/menu.html

5.   MyPyramid.gov: Steps to a Healthier You - This interactive site gives detailed information on how much of each food group you should eat everyday. It also includes tips and resources for planning a well-balanced and healthy diet.

   http://www.mypyramid.gov

6. Adaptive Cooking (Copyright © Infinitec) - This web site provides information about kitchen accessibility basics, shopping, kitchen tools, and more for people with disabilities.

   http://www.infinitec.org/live/kitchens/basickitchens.htm

7. Exercise and Disability: Physical Activity is Within Your Reach (Copyright © MFMER) - This publication provides information on the benefits of physical activity for people with disabilities and explains the different types of exercises that are helpful. It also discusses the importance of talking to your doctor first and starting out slowly to avoid injury.

   http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/SM00042

8. A Health Handbook for Women with Disabilities (Copyright © Hesperian Foundation) - This book is written for women with disabilities around the world. It contains chapters about understanding and taking care of your body, growing older with a disability, abuse, violence, self-defense, and much more.

   http://www.hesperian.org/publications_download_wwd.php

9. Nutrition (Copyright © NCPAD) - Look through this list of information about nutrition for people with disabilities for tips about food labels, eating breakfast, fad diets, and more!

   http://www.ncpad.org/nutrition/

10. Nutrition and Weight Management for People with Disabilities - This project of the New York State Department of Health provides resources and a newsletter for disabled people about maintaining their weight and eating healthy.

    http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/prevent/target10.htm

Organizations

1.   Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity, NCCDPHP, CDC
2.   Weight Control Information Network, NIDDK, NIH, HHS
3. National Center on Physical Activity and Disability

= Indicates Federal Resources

Content last updated May 15, 2008.