Like oranges, potatoes are very high in vitamin C. The fact is, one medium potato contains 45% of the vitamin C that’s recommended for good health.  Potatoes are also high in fiber and carbohydrates and contain more potassium than a banana.

A potato is naturally low in calories and contains no fat, sodium, or cholesterol.  The skins of the potatoes provide a helpful dose of fiber, iron, potassium, calcium, zinc, phosphorus, and several B vitamins.

You can prepare potatoes by boiling them, steaming them, or even roasting them.  If at all possible, you should avoid putting potatoes in the refrigerator or freezing them, as cold will turn the potato starch to sugar and cause them to turn dark when they are cooked.

When you store potatoes, keep them in a cool, dark place. Too much light will cause them to turn green. You can store them in the basement if you have one, as the basement is the best place to keep potatoes.

From mashed potatoes to baked potatoes, a potato is something we all know and love.  They serve many different tasty foods, and they provide our bodies with plenty of healthful benefits.  We all eat potatoes, some of us even grow our own.  Whether you grow your on or buy them, the potato is the one vegetable that makes everything just a little bit better.

Always eat breakfast
Even though you may think you aren’t hungry, you need to eat something.  Skipping breakfast makes it harder to maintain the proper blood and sugar levels during the day, so you should always eat something.

Carry a snack
Keeping some protein rich snacks in your car, office, or pocket book will help you avoid blood sugar level dips, the accompanying mood swings, and the fatigue.  Trail mix, granola bars, and energy bars all have the nutrients you need.

Healthy munchies
If you like to munch when you’re stressed out, you can replace chips or other non healthy foods with carrot sticks, celery sticks, or even sunflower seeds.

Bring your lunch
Although a lot of people prefer to eat fast food for lunch, you can save a lot of money and actually eat healthier if you take a few minutes and pack a lunch at home.  Even if you only do this a few times a week, you’ll see a much better improvement over eating out.

Stock your home
As important as it is to get the bad food out of your house, it’s even more important to get the good food in!  The best way to do this is to plan a menu of healthy meals at snacks at the beginning of the week, list the ingedients you need, then go shop for it.  This way, you’ll know what you want when you need it and you won’t have to stress over what to eat.

Grains

You should consume 6 ounces of grains per day.  To do this, you can eat 3 ounces of whole grain cereals, breads, rice, crackers, or pasta.  You can get an ounce of grains in a single slice of bread, or 1 cut of cereal.

Vegetables

These should be varied, as you should eat 2 1/2 cups of them each day.  You should start eating more of the dark vegetables, such as broccili and spinach.  Carrots and sweet potatoes are good as well.  You should also eat more dry beans such as peas, pinto beans, and even kidney beans.

Fruits

Fruits are very important.  You should try to eat 2 cups of them each day.  Focus on eating a variety, such as fresh, frozen, canned, or even dried fruit.  You can dri

nk fruit juices as well, although you should use moderation when doing so.

Milk

Milk is your calcium rich friend.  For adults, 3 cups is the ideal goal.  For kids 2 – 8, 2 cups is where you want to be.  When choosing milk products or yogurt, you should go for fat-free or low-fat.  Those of you who don’t like milk or can’t have it, should go for lactose free products or other sources of calcium such as fortified foods and beverages.

Meat and beans

Eating 5 ounces a day is the ideal goal, as you should go lean with your protein.  When eating meat, always bake it, grill it, or broil it, as this will prevent grease from adding to the equation.  You should vary your protein as well, with more fish, beans, peas, and nuts.

When cooking your food, you should also limit solid fats such as butter, margarine, shortening, and lard.  These foods may add flavor to your dishes, although they can also help raise your cholesterol as well.  Therefore, you should try to add these foods and any foods that happen to contain them.

To help keep your saturated fat, trans fat, and sodium low, you can check the nutrition facts label.  This label can be found on the food package and will tell you all the information you need to know about the food item.

By picking your foods wisely and watching what you eat, you’ll help control your lifestyle.  Exercise is great as well, as it goes along perfect with a healthy eating lifestyle.  No matter what your age may be, eating healthy will help you keep your active lifestyle for years and years – even help you and your health in the long run as well.