1. The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) food pyramid shows you the number of recommended servings of each type of food needed per day.
2. If you want gums and teeth that are healthy and strong, bite into vitamin C. This vitamin
also strengthens your bones and muscles, and it helps you heal if you break a bone or get a
cut. Remember the last time you scraped your knee? Vitamin C came to the rescue! This
vitamin also helps your body resist infection. This means that even though you can't always
avoid getting sick, vitamin C makes it a little harder for your body to become infected with
an illness.
Not only is it easy to get vitamin C, it's delicious, too. It's in lots of sweet fruits, like
oranges, tangerines, lemons, grapefruit, honeydew melon, watermelon, strawberries, and
raspberries. And if juice is what you like, you're in luck - orange juice and grapefruit juice
are both full of vitamin C. There are tasty veggies that have vitamin C, like broccoli,
tomatoes, and green peppers. So get some of these foods on your plate, and C how good
you feel.
3. You need water for lots of reasons. Water helps keep the fluids in your body in balance, so that you stay healthier. Water is good for your skin and it helps your body use food more efficiently. Your body is even made up mostly of water so it's super important to put more water into your system after exercising or playing.
4. Protein is needed by your body to build strong muscles! You can get protein from beef, fish, chicken, eggs, nuts, tofu and lots of other foods!
5. Colorful vegetables are loaded with vitamins and minerals that help keep you healthy. Dark green veggies are very good sources of Vitamins A, B, C and things like zinc and "betacarotenes."
6. Candy has lots of sugar in it and no vitamins that your body needs to grow strong. Apples and peanuts are examples of foods that make great snacks!
7. Bread, pasta and other starches are sources of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are the best way to get energy from food. Your body can get energy from sugars too, but the energy from sweeets doesn't last very long. Your body uses carbohydrates like fuel, so that you have enough energy to do things like exercise, play sports and ride your bike.