Males of all ages can benefit from eating a balanced and varied diet, geting enough calcium, avoiding high fat and sugar content (like fast food), drinking six 8-ounce glasses of water, and exercising daily.

However, if you are worried about your personal nutrition or weight, talk with your doctor about your concerns. There are many diets and supplements that can be dangerous to your health. Your doctor can discuss a diet that is right for you.

• Men Need 9 a Day
• Why eat fruits and vegetables?
• What is a healthy diet?
• Dietary Supplements

Men Need 9 a Day

Although everyone is encouraged to eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day, men should actually be shooting for nine!

Unfortunately, most men are in danger of not eating enough of this important food group.

Men aren't eating enough fruits and vegetables.

• Men eat only about 4 1/2 servings of fruits and vegetables a day on average.
• Only 4 percent of men say they eat the 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day recommended as part of an active lifestyle.

Men aren't aware of the benefits.

• Men are significantly less likely than women to recognize the health benefits of fruits and vegetables, such as their role in reducing the risk of many cancers, heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

Men have high rates of diet-related diseases.

• Men have approximately 1 1/2 times the death rate of total cardiovascular diseases as women.
• Men have approximately 1 1/2 times the death rate of total cancers as women.
• Men have approximately 2 times the death rate of lung cancer as women.
• Men have approximately 1 1/2 times the death rate of colorectal cancer as women.
• More than two-thirds of men are overweight or obese.
• Among Americans overall, at least 58 million have some form of cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure, and 8.2 million Americans alive today have a history of cancer.

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Why eat fruits and vegetables?

• Fruits and vegetables provide vitamins, minerals and fiber your body needs.
  
• They are packed with hundreds of disease-fighting phytochemicals - natural substances that work as a team to protect good health.
  
• Pills and supplements cannot provide all these nutrients together.
  
• Different color fruits and vegetables all contain an array of disease-fighting phytochemicals that work together with vitamins and minerals to protect our health. Eat a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables everyday.
  
  • Green (i.e. spinach, romaine lettuce, peas, broccoli, limes)
    
  • Yellow/Orange (i.e. carrots, squash, sweet corn, oranges)
    
  • Red (i.e. tomato sauce, tomatoes, red peppers, cherries, watermelon)
    
  • Blue/Purple (i.e. blueberries, eggplant, grapes, plums)
    
  • White (i.e. colliflower, mushrooms, onions, bananas, pears)

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What is a healthy diet?

The United States Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services have jointly issued a complete report on a healthy diet titled Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans and Food Guidelines for Americans.

Healthy diets follow the food guide "pyramid," which recommends:

• 6-11 servings of complex carbohydrates
• 2-3 servings each of fruits and vegetables
• 1-2 servings each of dairy products
• proteins like meat, tofu, or beans
• sparing use of added fats and sugars

In addition, the "Five A Day" Campaign is a national effort to get Americans to eat five to nine servings combined from the fruit and vegetable groups per day.
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Dietary Supplements

Many young men wonder if dietary supplements can help them grow taller, give them bigger muscles or make them better athletes.

However, supplements cannot take the place of a healthy diet and regular excercise. Advertisements for supplements often promise big results without scientific data to back up their claims.

Find information on Dietary Supplements: Facts vs. Fads.
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