Healthy Eating on the Go: A Guide to Dining Out, Traveling, and More
- A healthy diet is an important cornerstone of good health, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy.
- Along with exercise and stress management, healthy eating reduces your risk of lifestyle diseases and helps manage health conditions.
- However, the average American doesn’t eat a very healthy diet. The Healthy Eating Index from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) gave the average American diet a score of 59 out of 100, using the most recent data from 2015.
- Healthy eating while you’re away from home and on the go can pose unique challenges.
- To eat healthy, you need to get a variety of nutrients from the five food groups — dairy, protein-rich foods, grains, fruits, and vegetables.
- To build a healthy plate — whether it’s for a meal or a snack — try pairing foods from at least two food groups to get a diversity of nutrients.
- Some people also forego meals intentionally for religious or cultural reasons or when practicing intermittent fasting. However, this is often preplanned and not the same as unintentionally skipping a meal because you’re in a rush.