Introduction

You're trying to eat a healthy diet, but you're not sure how much of which nutrients to get. Just what constitutes a healthy diet? With the different or even conflicting nutritional advice you may come across, it's no wonder you're uncertain.

Here's a guide to nutritional recommendations designed to help promote health and prevent disease, based on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, issued by the Department of Agriculture. Use this guide to help plan your healthy diet. Keep in mind that if you have high blood pressure, heart disease or other conditions, your healthy diet recommendations may be different. Check with your doctor about your particular situation. To use this guide, click on the tabs to the left for a description of recommended nutrients and their amounts.

Carbohydrates

Description: Carbohydrates are a type of nutrient found in many foods and beverages. Carbohydrates are your body's main energy source. Most carbohydrates are naturally occurring in plant-based foods. Food manufacturers also add carbohydrates to processed foods as starches or added sugar. Carbohydrates in the form of sugars, starches and fiber are found in legumes, grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, baked goods and many other foods.

Recommendation: Get 45 to 65 percent of your daily calories from carbohydrates. Carbohydrates have 4 calories a gram. Based on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, this amounts to 900 to 1,300 calories a day, or about 225 to 325 grams. Emphasize natural, nutrient-dense carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables, beans and legumes, and whole grains. Limit less healthy sugar-sweetened beverages, desserts and refined grain products.

Protein

Description: Protein is an important nutrient, essential for growth and development. All the cells of your body include protein. Protein is also an important source of calories and energy. Both plant-based and animal-based foods provide protein.

Recommendation: Get 10 to 35 percent of your total daily calories from protein. Protein has 4 calories a gram. Based on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, this amounts to about 200 to 700 calories a day, or about 50 to 175 grams a day. Emphasize plant sources of protein, such as beans, lentils, soy products and unsalted nuts. Include seafood twice a week. Meat, poultry and dairy products should be lean or low fat.

Fat

Description: Fats aren't necessarily bad for you, but you need only a small amount. Dietary fat is a nutrient that helps your body absorb essential vitamins, maintains the structure and function of cell membranes, and helps keep your immune system working. Some types of fat, though, may increase your risk of heart disease and other health problems. Fat also has a lot of calories, increasing the risk of weight gain.

Recommendation: Limit total fat to 20 to 35 percent of your daily calories. Fat has 9 calories a gram. Based on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, this amounts to about 400 to 700 calories a day, or about 44 to 78 grams of total fat. Emphasize unsaturated fats from healthier sources, such as lean poultry, fish and healthy oils, such as olive, canola and nut oils. Limit less healthy full-fat dairy products, desserts, pizza, burgers and sausage, and other fatty meats.

Saturated fat

Description: Saturated fat is most often found in animal products, such as cheese, red meat, poultry, butter and whole-milk products. Other foods high in saturated fat include those made with coconut, palm and other tropical oils. Saturated fat may increase your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Recommendation: Limit saturated fat to no more than 10 percent of your total calories. Lowering calories from saturated fat to 7 percent can further reduce your risk of heart disease. Saturated fat has 9 calories a gram. Based on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, 7 to 10 percent amounts to about 140 to 200 calories a day, or about 16 to 22 grams of saturated fat. Replace saturated fats with healthier monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats, found in olive oil, canola oil, vegetable oils, lean poultry, and unsalted nuts and seeds. Remember saturated fat counts toward your total daily allowance of fat.

Trans fat

Description: Trans fat occurs naturally in some foods, especially foods from animals. But most trans fat is created during food processing through partial hydrogenation of unsaturated fats. Trans fat is a common ingredient in some types of margarine, shortening, snack foods and commercial baked goods. Trans fat can increase your risk of heart disease.

Recommendation: The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend avoiding trans fat as much as possible by limiting foods that contain synthetic sources of trans fat, such as partially hydrogenated oils, and by limiting other solid fats. The American Heart Association recommends limiting trans fat to no more than 1 percent of your total daily calories. For most people, this is less than 2 grams a day. Limit less healthy commercially prepared desserts and snacks, such as crackers, cookies, cakes and doughnuts. Remember trans fat counts toward your total daily allowance of fat.

Cholesterol

Description: Cholesterol is vital because it helps build your body's cells and produces certain hormones. But your body makes enough cholesterol to meet its needs — you don't need any dietary cholesterol. Excessive cholesterol in your diet can increase your risk of heart disease and stroke. Dietary cholesterol comes from animal products, such as meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, dairy products and butter.

Recommendation: Keep dietary cholesterol to less than 300 milligrams a day. Cutting cholesterol to less than 200 milligrams a day can benefit anyone at high risk of heart disease. Reduce dietary cholesterol by cutting back on animal sources of food, such as beef, poultry and eggs. If an item is high in saturated fat, it's probably also high in cholesterol.

Fiber

Description: Fiber is the part of plant-based foods that your body doesn't digest and absorb. There are two basic types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber may help improve your cholesterol and blood sugar levels. Oats, dried beans and some fruits, such as apples and oranges, are good sources of soluble fiber. Insoluble fiber adds bulk to your stool and can help prevent constipation. Vegetables, wheat bran and other whole grains are good sources of insoluble fiber.

Recommendation: If you're a woman, get about 22 to 28 grams of fiber a day. If you're a man, get about 28 to 34 grams of fiber a day. Emphasize whole-grain products, fruits, vegetables, beans and peas, and unsalted nuts and seeds.

Sodium

Description: Some sodium is vital because it helps maintain the right balance of fluids in your body, helps transmit nerve impulses, and influences the contraction and relaxation of muscles. Too much sodium, though, can be harmful, increasing your blood pressure and the risk of heart disease and stroke. Most Americans get far too much sodium in their daily diet and need to cut way back.

Recommendation: Limit sodium to less than 2,300 milligrams a day — or 1,500 milligrams if you're age 51 or older, or if you are black or you have high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease. To reduce sodium in your diet, limit processed and prepared foods, which are often high in sodium, avoid salty condiments, don't add salt at the table, and eliminate salt from recipes when possible.

Sugar

Description: All sugar, whether natural or processed, is a type of carbohydrate that your body uses for energy. Sugar occurs naturally in some foods, including fruits, vegetables, milk and some grains. Processed sugars also are added to foods and beverages. These added sugars do little more than add calories to your diet. Many processed foods have both solid fats and added sugar. Together, solid fats and added sugar are known as SoFAS.

Recommendation: The dietary guidelines recommend cutting back on calories from SoFAS. For most people, that means no more than 5 to 15 percent of total calories should come from SoFAS. Consider that 13 percent of a 2,000-calorie diet is about 260 calories a day. The American Heart Association has more specific guidelines for added sugar — no more than 100 calories a day from added sugar for most women and no more than 150 calories a day for most men. That's about 6 teaspoons for women and 9 for men. To cut back on SoFAS, limit table sugar, desserts, pizza, sausage and similar fatty meats, sweetened beverages, stick margarine and butter, and candy.