What the guidance says
National dietary guidelines differ in how they are drawn — a plate, a pyramid, a set of rules — but agree almost entirely on the substance:
- Plenty of vegetables and fruit — five portions a day, or half the plate, depending on how the national guidance frames it.
- Wholegrain starchy foods as the base of meals.
- More plant protein: beans, lentils and chickpeas at least twice a week — the clearest change in recent revisions, alongside lower recommended intakes of red and processed meat.
- Two portions of fish a week, one of them oily.
- Unsaturated oils — olive, rapeseed — in modest amounts.
- Less salt (a maximum of around 5 to 6 g a day), sugar, processed meat and ultra-processed food.
The most recent revisions have moved away from food groups and fixed servings towards a plate model, with an added emphasis on cooking and on eating together.
Breakfast: a meal, not a rule
Long billed as "the most important meal of the day" — a phrase originally popularised by cereal manufacturers — breakfast is not essential for everyone. The evidence is mixed; what matters is the overall quality of the day's diet. If you do eat it, a good balance pairs a low-sugar wholegrain, a protein source (eggs, dairy, nuts) and a piece of fruit. Heavily sweetened cereals mostly deliver a mid-morning slump.
Sugar, the real issue
The WHO recommends limiting free sugars — those added to food, plus those in juice and honey — to under 10% of energy intake, and ideally 5%, roughly 25 g a day for an adult. A single can of cola contains around 35 g. The main sources are rarely the sugar bowl: soft drinks, ultra-processed foods, sauces, cereals and biscuits.
Supplements
For a healthy person eating varied food, routine multivitamins bring no demonstrated benefit, and some high-dose supplements are actively discouraged. A few situations do warrant them, ideally with medical advice: pregnancy (folic acid), a vegan diet (vitamin B12 is essential), older adults or anyone with little sun exposure (vitamin D — recommended at high latitudes during autumn and winter), and persistent fatigue, where iron deficiency should be investigated.
Diet, fitness and sex
No food is an aphrodisiac in any literal sense — not oysters, not chocolate, not ginger. Diet does matter indirectly and substantially: cardiovascular health directly underpins erectile function, excess alcohol reduces desire and performance, and good sleep, helped by lighter evening meals, remains one of the strongest allies of libido.
A word on diets
Very restrictive diets are followed by weight regain in the large majority of cases and are associated with disordered eating. For lasting change, working with a GP or a registered dietitian (a protected title in most countries, unlike "nutritionist") produces far better results than anything found online.