healthful

Healthful is an adjective describing something that promotes or sustains good health. It refers to factors, practices, or conditions that are beneficial to physical or mental well-being. The term is commonly applied to foods, environments, habits, and public-health measures that support health.

Usage distinctions: In modern English, healthful is often contrasted with healthy. Healthy tends to describe the state of being in good health, whereas healthful describes something that promotes health. However, the boundary is not rigid, and many speakers use healthy for both senses. Some style guides note that healthful is preferred for things and processes rather than beings.

Examples: healthful foods such as leafy greens; a healthful diet; a healthful workplace; healthful choices like regular sleep and exercise. In nutrition and public-health writing, healthful may be used to emphasize the proactive nature of the factor.

Etymology: healthful is formed from health + -ful and is attested in Middle English; its usage has declined somewhat in everyday speech but persists in formal, scientific, and educational contexts.

See also: healthy, wellness, nutrition, public health.