Bread, potatoes, cereals, pasta and rice

This food group, sometimes referred to as ‘starchy carbohydrates’, includes bread, potatoes, breakfast cereals, pasta, rice, oats and noodles. Why not try some colourful or different-shaped pasta, or swap fried chips for oven chips?

How much bread, cereals and potatoes should you eat?

Most of us should eat more bread, cereals and potatoes. Try and base a third of your food intake on foods from this group. Set yourself a challenge - try to eat one item out of this food group at each meal, such as a bowl of cereal or porridge at breakfast, a chicken salad sandwich for lunch, or potatoes with fish and vegetables for dinner.

Why eat these foods?

These foods provide:

• Carbohydrate to give you lots of energy
• Fibre which keeps your gut and intestines working properly
• Some calcium to give you healthy bones and teeth
• Some iron and folate needed to produce and maintain healthy red blood cells
• Some B vitamins which help you use energy

Healthy eating tips

• Base your meals around foods from this group
• Eat wholegrain or wholemeal breads, pastas and cereals
• Choose low-fat oven chips rather than fried - oven chips fall into this food group but fried chips don’t
• Eating more foods from this group will help to reduce the proportion of fat and increase the amount of fibre in your diet. Avoid frying or adding too much fat to these foods

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