Whether you want to lose a few pounds or simply adopt healthier eating habits, learning to choose the right foods is the first step toward achieving your goal. While it's no secret that a greasy burger and fries five nights a week probably isn't the most nutritious choice, oftentimes the reality is not so black and white. Following are a few helpful tips to help you select the best foods for your health.

Protein

Twenty percent of the body's structure is protein-based, and the body utilizes protein for every function it performs. Literally every part-including the blood, skin, muscle tissue and organs-requires protein, so making sure you get plenty of it in your diet is essential. The key, however, is to consume protein from the best sources.

Meats and fish are the richest sources of protein. In general, a serving should be between 3 and 4 ounces of cooked meat, or about the size of a deck of cards, and the majority of experts agree that you should eat two or three servings of protein-rich foods every day. The best sources of protein are lean meats such as chicken, turkey and fish, and roughly 25 percent of your diet should come from protein-rich foods. Whenever possible, avoid or limit your intake of fatty meats (such as red meat), processed lunch meats, liver and cheese.

Fats

Although fats often get a bad reputation when it comes to losing weight, it's important to remember that dietary fat is not an impediment to weight loss. Eating the wrong kinds of fat, and too much fat, is what leads to weight gain. Just as there are good and bad carbohydrates, there are also good and bad fats. Simply remember the following guidelines:

Avoid Trans Fats (Hydrogenated Oils): These manmade fats are manufactured from polyunsaturated fats, but they have been chemically altered so that they stay solid at room temperature. They are added to many cookies, crackers and other processed foods and may increase the risk of heart disease and lower good cholesterol levels.

Limit Saturated Fats: Saturated fats are those found in red meats and dairy products such as milk, eggs, cheese and butter. Because consuming too many saturated fats may lead to a rise in overall cholesterol levels and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, many experts agree that they should be eaten sparingly.

Enjoy Good Fats: Unsaturated fats are the good fats that should be included in your daily diet; they include polyunsaturated fat and monounsaturated fat. Polyunsaturated fats help lower the total amount of cholesterol in the body (both good and bad), and the best sources include flax oil, pumpkin seeds, oily fish, walnuts, and hemp oil. These oils also contain healthy Omega-3 fatty acids. Monounsaturated fats help lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol levels, and the best sources include olive oil, canola oil, and peanut oil.

Carbohydrates

As with fats, the key with carbohydrates is choosing the right carbohydrates rather than limiting your overall carbohydrate intake. High-fiber foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds bring oodles of benefits to a healthy diet. In addition to its role in disease prevention, fiber can also help manage hunger and support healthy weight management in four important ways:

Fiber helps curb your appetite. Fiber stimulates cholecystokinin (CCK), a hormone that sends a message to your brain that you are full. Fiber promotes and prolongs the elevation of CCK in the blood, which makes you feel full for longer periods of time.

Fiber helps eliminate calories from the food you eat. Research has shown that people who consume a diet high in fiber tend to excrete more calories in their stool. This is because fiber helps to block the absorption of calories consumed and lead calories out of the body.

Fiber foods are low energy-density foods. Because high-fiber foods typically have a very low energy density (the number of calories in a particular volume of food), eating them allows you to eat a larger volume of food without consuming a lot of calories. This helps you feel satisfied longer.

Fiber slows down the rate at which your body converts carbohydrates into sugar. High-fiber foods help normalize blood glucose levels by slowing down the time it takes food to leave the stomach and delaying the absorption of glucose (blood sugar) from a meal.