Eat a Variety of Foods

You need more than 40 different nutrients for good health and no single food can supply them all. Today's food supply makes it easy to eat a wide variety of foods whether or not you are buying fresh foods to cook, taking advantage of ready-prepared dishes and meals or buying "take-away" foods. Balance your choice over time! If you have a high-fat lunch, have a low-fat dinner. If you eat a large serving of meat at dinner one day, perhaps choose fish the next day.

Sugars, a type of carbohydrate, have been making media headlines repeatedly over the last years. Most strikingly, the debate tends to be based on gut feelings rather than solid science, often missing out on key studies and reviews. However, for policy makers to make informed decisions about sugar consumption in relation to health, they require a well-balanced reflection of the current scientific evidence. In this context, the European Food Safety Authority in its 2010 scientific opinion on dietary carbohydrates concluded that current data do not allow setting an upper limit for (added) sugar intake in relation to body weight, dental health and certain adverse metabolic effects.

Sugar is a common and important part of our diet and provides an essential fuel for our bodies. In fact, the brain and the red blood cells need glucose as an energy source since they cannot use fat, protein, or other forms of energy for this purpose. Sugar also makes our diet more palatable by adding sweetness to a large range of foods. As with any nutrient, excess consumption can have a negative health impact. Therefore, sugar should be eaten in moderation. Furthermore, an overall healthy lifestyle encompasses regular physical activity alongside a balanced diet.

To better understand sugars and their impact on health, EUFIC provides a range of information materials that cover many of the sugar-related topics and give an overview of the most recent scientific developments in the field.

The 2^nd International Vitamin Conference brought together scientists and regulators in sharing new knowledge on vitamins. The Conference took place between the 23^rd and the 25^th of May 2012 in Copenhagen, and was arranged by the Technical University of Denmark. Discussion was focused on 13 vitamins from food and supplements, the content, their activity, biomarkers, and optimal dietary intake. In this podcast, EUFIC spoke with 5 key speakers on their respective areas of research on vitamins including vitamin K, folate, vitamin B₁₂ and vitamin C.

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