Nutrients

• Protein provides energy, fortifies your body's natural tissues and helps your antibodies combat disease. You can find proteins in lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, legumes and cheese. Calcium helps your blood clot, strengthens your bones and helps your heart and nerves operate efficiently. You can find calcium in dairy products, especially milk and cheddar cheese, kale, collards and turnip greens. Iron helps carry oxygen around your body; it can be found in liver, kidney, lean meats, oysters, dried fruit, beans and green leafy vegetables like collards. Vitamin C--found in cantaloupe, oranges, strawberries, broccoli, brussels sprouts, collards, potatoes and tomatoes--helps the body heal itself. Carbohydrates provide energy and are most often found in starches, such as breads, cereals, potatoes and pastas, and in sugars.
  
  

Cooking

• Some foods provide more nutrients than others. The USDA recommends eating more fish that rich in omega-3 fatty acids: salmon, herring, halibut and trout. Omega-3 fatty acids are necessary for brain development and growth. The American Heart Association recommends eating fish at least twice a week. The USDA advises everyone to eat beans and peas, which provide niacin, thiamine, iron and protein. Use them in enchiladas, fajitas, stir-fries and tofu dishes, chili and veggie burgers. The USDA also recommends eating nuts on salads or as a complement to your main dish. Add pine nuts to pesto sauce, throw some cashews into a stir-fry or add pecans or walnuts to a green salad. When cooking with meat, look for labels that say at least "90 percent lean" for ground beef, and cook chicken without the skin. Meals made using these tips will be more nutritious and contain less saturated fat (Which leads to higher blood cholesterol levels and weight gain). Saturated fats are found in meat, dairy, eggs and other animal products.)
  
  

Meal Plans

• The USDA advocates meals that use a variety of ingredients, so you can obtain different nutrients. Its MyPyramid site, mypyramidtracker.gov, helps you plan daily balanced meals, varying according to your gender, age, weight and physical activity. For instance, a man in his early 30s with an active lifestyle will need about 10 ounces of grains per day, while a man in his early 50s with a sedentary lifestyle will need six.