General Nutrition Information
Carbohydrates
You need 6-11 servings each day. 1 serving is 15 grams of carbohydrate.
This is the base of what we need each day. Carbohydrates provide us energy. It is also best to choose whole wheat or whole grain carbohydrate choices when available. Whole grain foods are less processed and contain more vitamins, minerals and fiber than white flour foods. Our bodies take a longer time to break down the fiber pectin that is found in whole grain/wheat products. Therefore, there is less of a spike of our blood sugars and we will stay fuller longer.
The list below is one serving of a carbohydrate:
- 1 slice of bread
- ½ large pita
- ½ cup of cooked pasta
- ½ cup cooked rice/ cous cous
- ½ medium baked potato
- ½ cup of flaked cereal
- ½ cup cooked cereal
- ¼ cup granola
- ½ cup of corn (this is carbohydrate)
- 1, 6 inch flour tortilla
- 2 hard corn tortilla shells
- 6 saltine crackers
- 8 animal crackers
- ½ small bagel (hockey puck size)
- ¾ cup kidney beans
- ¼ cup baked beans
- 3 cups of popped popcorn (non-buttered)
- 1 cup of broth based soup
- 1 small waffle (Eggo size) or pancake
- ¾ cereal bar
- ½ hot dog or hamburger bun
A ½ cup is about the size a tennis ball or 1 cup is the size of a female’s fist-so you can use that when having cereal, pasta, rice, etc..
Proteins
You need 2-3 servings of 2-3 ounces each day. Seven grams of protein = 1 oz of protein.
Protein’s main function is for tissue build up. This helps with hair, skin, muscle and other tissues in our bodies. Ideally, the majority of our protein intake is from low fat protein choices.
Low Fat:
- Fish
- Chicken
- Turkey
- Shellfish
- Tuna fish
- ½ cup of cooked beans or peas
- 2 egg whites or ¼ cup of egg substitute
Medium Fat:
- Ground Round or Chuck Meat
- ¼ cup cottage cheese
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup of tofu
- 1 slice of cheese or ¼ cup of shredded cheese
High Fat:
- Beef
- Ham
- 2 sausage links
- 1 Tablespoon of peanut butter
- 15 nuts
3 ounces of protein is similar to the size of a deck of cards or the palm of your hand. Choosing lean proteins such as fish, lean meat, dry beans and peas are best since they are lower in fat. It is best to use moderation with the high fat protein choices, since they will be higher in calories because of the fat intake. Another way to decrease fat in protein is the remove the skin from poultry, cut all visible fat off on poultry or meat. Also, avoid frying foods.
Fruits and Vegetables
You want 2-4 servings a fruit and 3-5 servings of vegetable each day.
We get a wide variety of vitamin and minerals with our fruits and vegetables. Remember that the more color the fruit or vegetable has, the more vitamin and minerals it has.
A serving of fruit or vegetable is:
- ½ cup of chopped fruit or vegetable (this isn’t very big)
- 1 cup of green leafy vegetables
- 1 medium piece of fruit
- ½ cup of canned fruit (this should ideally be in it’s own juice, if it has to be in a syrup, light syrup is a healthier option)
- ¾ cup of juice (100% juice is the healthiest juice option; there is less added sugar than the other juices)
- ¼ cup dried fruit
- ¼ cup of vegetable juice
A medium sized fruit or vegetable or ½ cup is the size of a tennis ball
Dairy
You want 2-3 servings of dairy each day.
Dairy provides protein, vitamin and minerals, especially calcium, which is necessary for bone build up.
Low-fat and non-fat dairy choices are ideal. Choosing a 2%, 1% or skim milk, yogurt, cottage cheese and cheese would be low fat choices.
A serving of dairy would be:
- 1 cup of milk or yogurt
- ¼ cup cottage cheese
- 1 oz of cheese (4 “dice”sized squares)
- 1 slice of “deli” style cheese
- 1 string cheese
If you are breastfeeding, pregnant, teenager or young adult, aim for 3 servings a day. If you don’t fall within any of those groups, aiming for 2 servings/ day is great.
Fats
You want to limit the use of this group and use sparingly.
7-8 grams of fat is a serving. Fat Free foods will have ½ gram of fat/serving. Reduced fat foods have 3 grams of fat or less/serving and “Less fat” or “Reduced fat” foods have 25% less fat than a comparable food product.
It’s important to clarify that fat in food does not make you fat. It’s understanding that foods that are higher in fat are going to be higher in calories. It is the excess in calories that causes people to gain weight and fat.
A serving of fat is:
- 1 tsp of butter or margarine or oil or 1 Tbsp of reduced fat margarine or butter
- 1 Tbsp of peanut butter or nutella or any other nut butter
- 1 Tablespoon of regular salad dressing (2 Tablespoons of light)
- 1 tsp of mayonnaise or 1 Tbsp of reduced fat
- 1 Tablespoon of cream cheese, sour cream (2 Tablespoons of light)
- ½ oz of most nuts
- 1 Tbsp seeds
- 1/8 th of avocado
- 8 large black olives
- 1 bacon slice
- 2 Tbsp half and half or cream
- 1 Tbsp of cream cheese or sour cream
A teaspoon is about the size of the tip of your thumb; 1 oz of nuts should fit into the palm of your hand.
There will be foods that may have several groups. For example, 1 cup of spaghetti with meatballs would be 2 grains, 1 meat, 1 fat. 1 slice of cheese pizza would be 1 grain, 1 oz protein, 1 fat.
To figure out what your needs are you can use the caloric formula to figure out about how many calories you body requires. This will assure that we are meeting all of your needs.
In general, 1600 calories is needed for sedentary women and older adults. Two thousand, two hundred calories for children, teenage girls, active women, sedentary men and 2800 calories for teenage boys, active men, very active women.
