Salt Lake City, UT -- (ReleaseWire) -- 03/13/2020 --More and more people are working to eat healthier, but they may not know that eating healthy means eating the right amounts of the right foods. For National Nutrition Month, Intermountain Healthcare wants to help people live the healthiest lives possible and give them resources that can help them in those goals.

"The My Plate method is a great way to visualize a properly proportioned plate," said Charlotte Hunter, Intermountain Healthcare dietitian. "MyPlate is a reminder to find your healthy eating style and build it throughout your lifetime. Everything you eat and drink matters. The right mix can help you be healthier now and in the future."

Hunter explained that when using My Plate for meal choices, individuals can:
-Focus on variety, amount, and nutrition.
-Choose foods and beverages with less saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars.
-Start with small changes to build healthier eating styles.
-Support healthy eating for everyone.

"Eating healthy is a journey shaped by many factors, including our stage of life, situations, preferences, access to food, culture, traditions, and the personal decisions we make over time. All your food and beverage choices count. MyPlate offers ideas and tips to help you create a healthier eating style that meets your individual needs and improves your health," said Hunter.

Hunter said that most of us who are 19 years or older should be eating between two and a half to three cups of vegetables per day. And weekly, we should be aiming for one and one half to two cups of dark green vegetables, five and a half to six cups of red or orange vegetables, one half to two cups beans or peas, five to six cups starchy vegetables, and four to five cups other vegetables. Try to keep your produce vibrant and colorful. Buy fresh and local when possible. Eat half a cup less of the above totals if you are a female 51 years or older. Also, if you are female and have a smaller build, aim for the lower end of all of the ranges above. If you are a large male, aim for the higher end of the ranges.

Enjoy fruit as your sweet treats. Aim for half a cup to two cups of fruit per day. Though all fruit is great, try to consume more whole fruits and fewer fruit juices. Canned fruits and frozen fruits with no added sugars are also good choices.

Make more of your grains whole. You can eat between five to eight ounce equivalents of grains per day. An ounce equivalent is going to be a slice of bread, one cup cereal, or half a cup rice, pasta, or cooked cereal.

Choose lean sources of protein. You should aim for five to six ounces of protein per day. That can be an ounce of meat, one quarter cup of cooked beans, one egg, one tablespoon of peanut butter, or half an ounce of nuts or seeds.

You can find more information at https://www.choosemyplate.gov/.

About Intermountain Healthcare
Intermountain Healthcare is a not-for-profit system of 24 hospitals, 215 clinics, a Medical Group with 2,500 employed physicians and advanced practice clinicians, a health insurance company called SelectHealth, and other health services in Idaho, Utah, and Nevada. Intermountain is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes and sustainable costs. For more information, see intermountainhealthcare.org.