“Balanced” is one of those words that sounds simple until you try to put it on a plate. It does not mean cutting out whole food groups. It does not mean eating perfectly every day. It means getting the proportions roughly right, most of the time.
The UK has an official picture of what that looks like. It is called the Eatwell Guide, and it is based on national diet and nutrition data rather than opinion. Here is what it actually says, in numbers.
The Eatwell Guide, in proportions
The Eatwell Guide divides everything you eat and drink across a day into five groups, and gives each group a share of the whole. These are the official segment sizes.
View as a table
| Food group | Share of the diet |
|---|---|
| Fruit and vegetables | 40% |
| Potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy carbohydrates | 38% |
| Beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins | 12% |
| Dairy and alternatives | 8% |
| Oils and spreads | 1% |
Two things tend to surprise people. Fruit, vegetables and starchy carbohydrates together make up 78% of the picture, so most of what you eat should come from those two groups. And oils and spreads, the thing many people worry about most, is 1%.
Notice what is not on the guide. There is no segment for biscuits, crisps, chocolate or sugary drinks. They are not banned, but they sit outside the guide rather than inside it. That is the point the picture is making.
The 5 A Day part
NHS guidance is at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables a day. Fresh, frozen, tinned, dried and juiced all count, so frozen peas and tinned tomatoes are not a compromise. The word doing the work is variety. Five portions of the same thing is not the same as five different ones.
Fruit juice and smoothies are the exception. They are capped at a combined total of 150ml a day, however many glasses you have. Blending and juicing release the sugars from the fruit, so they do not behave in the body the way whole fruit does.
Fibre, the gap most people miss
If you only change one thing after reading this, make it fibre. NHS guidance says adults should be getting 30g a day. Most adults are getting about 20g.
View as a table
| Measure | Fibre per day |
|---|---|
| What most adults actually eat | About 20g |
| What is recommended for adults | 30g |
| Typical shortfall | About 10g |
This is not only about digestion. The NHS puts it plainly: eating plenty of fibre is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer. Closing a 10g gap is a small change with a lot behind it.
The practical route is unglamorous. Leave the skins on your potatoes. Move to wholemeal bread and wholewheat pasta. Add a tin of beans, chickpeas or lentils to something you already cook. Keep nuts or fruit where you can see them.
The daily limits worth knowing
These are the NHS figures for adults. They are limits and targets, not scores to hit exactly every day.
For reference, NHS guidance puts average daily energy needs at around 2,000 calories for women and around 2,500 for men. Those are averages across a population, not a personal prescription. Your age, size and how active you are all move the number.
Five changes that do the heavy lifting
- Swap to wholemeal. Bread, pasta and rice. Same meal, more fibre, no extra effort.
- Add a tin, not a recipe. Beans, lentils or chickpeas into a sauce, soup or stew you already make.
- Check the salt on the label, not the shaker. Most salt is already in food when you buy it, not added at the table.
- Keep juice to one small glass. 150ml is the daily cap for juice and smoothies combined.
- Make half the plate vegetables. It is the fastest way to move your proportions towards the guide.
When to ask us
General guidance is written for the population, not for you. If you are managing diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, coeliac disease or a food allergy, or you are pregnant, some of these numbers will not apply to you in the usual way. Some medicines also interact with what and when you eat.
That is a conversation worth having with someone who can see your full picture. Our pharmacy team is here for exactly that, and you do not need an appointment to ask. Call us on 01784613239 or get in touch.
Sources
- NHS, The Eatwell Guide
- UK Government, The Eatwell Guide: segment proportions
- NHS, How to get more fibre into your diet
- NHS, Salt in your diet
- NHS, Sugar in our diet
- NHS, Fat: the facts
This article is general information, not personal medical advice, and it does not replace guidance from your GP or pharmacist. Figures are NHS and UK Government guidance for healthy adults and were correct at the time of writing. Easy Pharmacy is registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (9011078).
