The human body depends on water to survive. 

Every cell, tissue and organ in your body needs water to work properly. Your body uses water to maintain its temperature, remove waste and lubricate your joints.

Good nutrition provides energy. Energy is what your body needs to function. Just like you need to put fuel in your car or recharge your mobile phone battery, your body needs to be fed energy-providing foods every day. This means eating the right types of foods in the right proportions, and drinking the right amount of fluid. The health of a body is a direct result of the quality of what you put in it. Put rubbish into your body and you will not feel great.  

Good nutrition and hydration will help maintain a healthy weight and reduce the risk of weight problems like obesity which leads to other health problems like diabetes, high cholesterol, heart attack, kidney disease, heart disease and increased blood pressure which is the leading cause of stroke. Many of these lead to death. 

Good nutrition and hydration will:

• provide energy.
• enhance the feeling of wellbeing.
• support people with weakened immune systems.
• prevent constipation and encourage healthy stools.
• prevent illness.
• help people to fight and recover from illness.
• reduce the risk of some diseases like some cancers and osteoporosis.
• reduce the need for medication.

An increasing number of people are choosing to exclude animal products from their diet for health or animal welfare reasons. This is called a plant based diet.  The British Dietetic Association holds many fact sheets which are written by the UK’s expert dieticians. 

The Eatwell Guide represents the proportion the different food groups should contribute to your daily intakes for a balanced diet.

The NHS suggests using the Eatwell Guide which shows how much of what we eat overall should come from each food group to achieve a healthy, balanced diet. This is what the Eatwell Guide says:

This includes all food and all drinks for the day.