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patients & families > living with PI > eating right

Living with
Primary Immune Deficiency

Eating Right

The food choices you make each day can have a real impact on your health and how you feel. Healthful habits may also reduce your risk of chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and certain cancers, as well as increase your chances for a longer life.¹ Here are some tips from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005. ²

Make half your grains whole. Add more whole grain pasta, bread, crackers, cereal, and rice to your diet. Vary your veggies. Eat more dark green, orange, and yellow vegetables, and don't forget beans, peas, and lentils. Focus on fruit. Have a variety – fresh, canned, frozen or dried – every day, but go easy on fruit juice. Go lean with protein. Bake, broil or grill lean meat, poultry and vary your meals with fish, seeds, and nuts. Get calcium from low-fat or fat-free milk products, or other, non-dairy sources. Look for foods low in saturated and trans fats, such as fish, nuts and vegetable oils. Choose and prepare foods and beverages with little salt (sodium) and/or added sugars (caloric sweeteners)

Your personal plan. The new USDA Food Pyramid offers some advice on healthy eating, tailored to your body type, age, sex, and level of physical activity. Visit www.mypyramid.gov to learn more. As always, talk to your doctor about making food choices for your specific needs.

1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture. Finding Your Way to A Healthier You, Based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, January 2005. Available at: www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/pdf/brochure.pdf. Accessed September 28, 2006.

2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005. 6th Edition, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, January 2005. Available at: www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/pdf/DGA2005.pdf. Accessed September 28, 2006.