16/03/2026
Nutrition and Hydration Week 2026 is here
Looking after your nutrition and hydration is one of the simplest and most powerful ways to care for your health. This week is a reminder that food and fluids are essential parts of wellbeing
Healthy balanced diet ❣️
A balanced diet can help you feel good and maintain a healthy lifestyle, fuelling you so you can get on with what you’re best at doing.
Quick facts on a healthy, balanced diet
1. Healthy eating is about having a balance of different foods and nutrients in the diet for good health and wellbeing.
2. No single food or food group can provide everything we need to be healthy. Eating a variety of different foods from each of the food groups can help us get the full range of nutrients our bodies need.
3. Fruit and vegetables are a key part of a healthy diet, and we should aim to get our 5 A DAY or more if we can. This can be from fresh, frozen, dried or canned fruit and vegetables.
4. Starchy foods like bread, potatoes, pasta, rice and other grains are part of a healthy diet, but the quality of what we choose is important. It is a good idea to choose wholegrains like wholemeal or rye bread, wholewheat pasta, oats and potatoes with skins to help us get enough fibre and other important nutrients.
5. Plant-based protein foods like beans, lentils, chickpeas and other pulses provide protein and fibre and are naturally low in saturated fat. It is good to include these regularly in the diet
6. Animal protein foods like fish, eggs, meat and dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese) provide a range of vitamins and minerals and can be part of a healthy diet.
➡️It is best not to eat too much red and processed meat.
➡️It is recommended that we have two portions of fish a week, one of which should be an oily fish like salmon, mackerel or sardines.
➡️Dairy foods provide protein, calcium, B vitamins and iodine. It is best to go for lower sugar versions (for example natural yogurt) most of the time. If choosing plant-based dairy alternatives, then look for those that are fortified with calcium and ideally other vitamins and minerals.
7. It is best to choose healthier fats
➡️There are two basic kinds of fat: saturated and unsaturated. Eating a diet rich in saturated fat can raise your blood cholesterol level and increase your risk of heart disease. So eating less is important for heart health.
➡️Butter, lard, ghee, palm oil and coconut oil contain a high proportion of saturated fat. Other foods with a relatively high saturated fat content include cakes, chocolate, biscuits, pies and pastries. The white fat you see on red meat and underneath poultry skin is also high in saturated fat.
➡️Reducing saturated fat and replacing some of it with unsaturated fat may be good for your heart. Vegetable oils (such as rapeseed, olive, sunflower, soya, sesame oils) and fat spreads made from these oils are a healthier alternative to saturated fats. These are high in unsaturated fatty acids. Oily fish, including mackerel, sardines, pilchards and salmon, contain unsaturated fats called omega-3 fats, which can also help heart health.
8. We probably know that we should not have too many foods or drinks that are high in saturated fat, salt and sugar such as chocolate, cakes, biscuits, pastry, crisps and fried chips. If you include these, try to keep portion sizes small.
⭐Eating a healthy diet is not about strict limitations, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love. Rather, it’s about feeling great, having more energy, improving your health, and boosting your mood.⭐
Keep well hydrated 💧
For a number of reasons, older people are at greater risk of dehydration than younger people. Ageing produces a decrease in our thirst sensation so it is easy for dehydration to go unnoticed. So as we age, it is especially important to drink plenty of water and other non-alcoholic beverages.
Early signs of dehydration include dizziness, tiredness and headaches. Long-term mild dehydration increases the risk of kidney stones, constipation and cholesterol problems, as well as diminished physical and mental performance.
Eight to ten drinks are recommended each day to replace fluid that is lost from the body. Water is a great choice but tea, coffee and fruit juice all count. You will need to drink more if the weather is hot or humid or if you are physically active.
It is really important not to restrict your fluid intake. If getting up during the night is an issue, you may like to consume more of your fluid earlier in the day.
