Food variety means eating a wide variety of foods (a balanced diet) from within and across each of the five food groups, in the amounts recommended. Eating many different foods helps maintain a healthy, well-balanced and interesting diet that provides adequate nutrition. Eating a variety of foods can help prevent diseases such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Choosing a variety of foods within each group will also help to make your meals interesting, so you don’t get bored with your diet. The major food groups are:

* Fruit
* Vegetables, legumes
* Lean meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts, legumes
* Bread, cereals, rice, pasta, noodles
* Milk, yoghurt, cheese.

Why food variety is good for your health:

Eating a wide variety of foods increases the likelihood that you will be exposed to sufficient quantities of all essential nutrients, which vary in amount and combination among different foods. This will help to improve your health and may help prevent diseases like:

* Diabetes
* Cardiovascular (heart and circulation) disease
* Cancer.

Good food variety means good nutrition:

If you eat a variety of good food, your diet will provide you with adequate nutrition. However, you should remember that:

 * The way in which foods are grown, stored and prepared can affect nutrient value.
* Food variety is not based on how much of each food you eat or how often you eat it.
* Providing energy (kilojoules) is not the only reason for food variety. It also helps ensure that important dietary components which provide no nutrition, such as fibre, are included in your diet.

About Variety Food:

People belonging to different places eat different foods, this all is according to their habitat, culture and rituals.. Food is anything eaten to satisfy the appetite and to meet physiological needs for growth and to maintain all body processes, and to supply energy to maintain body temperature and activity.

Eat a Variety of Healthy Foods:

 * Greek Souvlaki
* Hamburgers, Cheeseburgers and Gyros
* Tri-tip sandwiches, Smoked turkey legs, Corn dogs and Roasted corn
* Teriyaki chicken skewers, Cinger chicken bowl, Fried rice and Chow mein
* Fried calamari w/cilantro lime sauce, Barbecued oysters, Crab cakes
* Garlic fries, Barbecued sausages, Hot links and Hot dogs
* Pulled pork and Beef brisket

Variety of foods at breakfast:

According to Australia’s last national nutrition survey, high school-aged girls were more likely to skip breakfast than boys. The report found that around one in three girls aged 12 to 15 did not eat a regular breakfast, compared with 13 per cent of boys.

 * Add a spoonful of sunflower seeds to your cereal
* Top your toast with a sliced banana
* Sprinkle diced dried fruit over your cereal or add some canned fruit
* For a quick breakfast on the go, prepare a whole grain sandwich with baked beans and cheese the night before and toast it in the sandwich maker the next morning.

Research has already shown that students who eat breakfast pay more attention in class, retain more information and are more interested in learning, but this is the first study to show that variety at breakfast is also important.

Eating a breakfast of toast with a glass of milk and some fruit seems to be better than just a large serve of toast alone. This may be because mental functioning is affected by the absorption of a variety of nutrients, including calcium, iron and B group vitamins.

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