People who eat a well-balanced diet tend to be healthier with stronger immune systems and lower risk of chronic illnesses and infectious diseases. So make sure you eat a variety of fresh and unprocessed foods every day to get the vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, protein and antioxidants your body needs. Drink enough water. Avoid sugar, fat and salt to significantly lower your risk of overweight, obesity, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and certain types of cancer.
Eat fresh and unprocessed foods every day
- Eat fruits, vegetables, legumes (e.g. lentils, beans), nuts and whole grains (e.g. unprocessed maize, millet, oats, wheat, brown rice or starchy tubers or roots such as potato, yam, taro or cassava), and foods from animal sources (e.g. meat, fish, eggs and milk).
- Daily, you should eat 2 cups of fruit (4 servings), 2.5 cups of vegetables (5 servings), 180 g of grains, and 160 g of meat or beans (red meat can be eaten 1−2 times per week, and poultry 2−3 times per week).
- For snacks, choose raw vegetables and fresh fruit rather than foods that are high in sugar, fat or salt.
- Do not overcook vegetables and fruit as this can lead to the loss of important vitamins.
- When using canned or dried vegetables and fruit, choose varieties without added salt or sugar.
Eat moderate amounts of fat and oil
- Consume unsaturated fats (e.g. found in fish, avocado, nuts, olive oil, soy, canola, sunflower and corn oils) rather than saturated fats (e.g. found in fatty meat, butter, coconut oil, cream, cheese, ghee and lard).
- Choose white meat like poultry and fish, which are generally low in fat, rather than red meat.
Fish a la Capri recipe
Ingredients
- 350 g white fish
- 2tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2tablespoons butter
- 1tablespoon capers, well rinsed
- 1 1/2tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1teaspoon lemon zest
- 1tablespoon fresh dill or flat leaf parsley, minced (or 1 teaspoon dried dill)
- 1/4 – 1/2teaspoon sea salt, divided
- Freshly ground pepper
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius.
- Place the fish in a lightly greased cast iron or roasting pan or a sheet pan lined with parchment. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with salt and ground pepper. Bake for approximately 15 minutes until the fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork.
- While the fish is cooking, place the remaining oil and butter in a small saucepan and melt the butter. Add the capers and continue cooking for less than 1 minute, just until the capers are aromatic. Then take the sauce off the heat, add the lemon juice, zest, dill, salt and pepper.
- Once the fish is done and plated, serve topped with sauce.
