The World Health Organization (WHO) makes the following 5 recommendations with respect to both populations and individuals:[3]
- Eat roughly the same amount of calories that your body is using. A healthy weight is a balance between energy consumed and energy that is 'burnt off'.
- Increase consumption of plant foods, particularly fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts.
- Limit intake of fats, and prefer less unhealthy unsaturated fats to saturated fats and trans fats.
- Limit the intake of sugar. A 2003 report recommends less than 10% simple sugars.[4]
- Limit salt / sodium consumption from all sources and ensure that salt is iodized.