DAILY FRUIT AND VEGETABLE SERVINGS

Children over six years of age as well as adults, should be getting 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day just to meet the minimum USDA recommended requirements. To help you know if you and your children are meeting that goal, below are some serving portion sizes. 

• 1/2 cup of cooked, canned or chopped fresh fruit and most vegetables
• 1 cup of raw, leafy greens such as kale, spinach, and other salad greens
• 1 medium tomato or 5 cherry tomatoes
• 3/4 cup juice
• 10 French fries
• 1/2 cup tomato or spaghetti sauce
• 1 medium apple, peach, banana, orange, 1 large kiwi-

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SERVING SIZE

What you choose to eat is important but just as important is knowing how much you eat. You regular readers know I am always saying to read the nutrition labels of everything you eat and serving size is one of the reasons why. It doesn't matter how many calories, fat, etc it says per serving if you don't look to see how many servings are in the bag, can, package, bottle, etc. If you pick up a bag of candy, for example, and you read the nutrition facts thinking, "Oh that's not too bad", you could be wrong. That information is listed per serving so if that bag contains 2 or 3 servings and you eat the whole bag, well you just ate 2 to 3 times what you think you did in calories, etc. With nuts, chips, etc, the serving size is often counted per nut, chip, etc. Pay attention to your serving sizes and eat accordingly.

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CEREAL SERVINGS

Are you one of those people who pulls a big bowl out of the cabinet and then pours it almost full of cereal leaving just enough room for some milk and (gasp!) sugar? If you are, you need to change your cereal habits. The next time you do that get out an extra bowl and a 1 cup measuring cup. Pour your cereal as you normally do. Get the measuring cup and measure what you poured into the second bowl. How much did you pour? Now look on the cereal box or bag. What is the suggested (healthy) serving size?  If you are shocked by the amount of cereal you poured, start measuring your cereal for a few days or weeks until you get used to what the serving size looks like.  And here's a hint for you, next time get a smaller bowl and the healthy serving size won't look so small in your bowl. Make it easier on yourself if you are normally pouring 3 or more servings into your bowl.  If you have been pouring 3 servings, cut it back to 2 for a few days. Slowly decrease the amount until you work yourself down to the healthy serving size.  As the old saying goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day"! Don't set yourself up for failure by trying to take too big a cut at one time.  Work your way into a healthy portion.  Did you realize that starting your day with an excessive amount of cereal servings can be as calorie laden as having a Big Mac for breakfast!

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MORE INFO ON SERVING SIZE ON NUTRITIONAL LABEL

 One of the things I failed to mention on the previous post about serving size on the nutritional label of food packing is this, the serving size listed is the USDA recommended healthy portion of that particular food. Look at this portion of the nutrition information on a bag of Cracker Jack. You will note the serving size is 1/2 cup.  Let's be honest here. How many of you with a bag of Cracker Jack will eat only 1/2 cup? No one is telling you not to eat Cracker Jack (unless you are diabetic, then I am!) but remember when you go past 1/2 cup you are eating more than you should.

Train your body to be satisfied with the recommended or healthy serving size. Yes, it will take time, but you can do it.  Until you get your body trained, get a measuring cup, measure out the recommended serving size and remove the remainder from your sight!

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ON NUTRITION LABELS

 I am always pushing you to read the nutrition labels on all the foods you eat. It is very important to know what you are putting into your body and food manufacturers have a lot of tricks to sneak unhealthy ingredients into foods to make them taste better or perhaps even to addict you to certain foods/beverages.

But what is the most important thing on those nutrition labels you need to know? Quite simply, the most important thing on the label you need to know is the serving size! Everything else is based on that knowledge. All the other numbers are per serving! You may notice 15g of sugar, for example, and think that's not bad. But is that for the whole bag, can, etc, or for 1/2 cup, 10 chips, etc? Make sure the first thing you read is the serving size and then apply that to the other numbers based on how many servings you are going to eat!

Click on picture to enlarge for easier reading. Notice this particular item list the nutritional value for only 1/6 of the recipe. If you eat half the recipe or 3/6 you would be eating 105 grams of sugar.

Size Counts When Carb Counting

If you are a carb counter as some diabetics and/or dieters are, it is important to remember that portion size does matter.  For instance, in the picture below the small apple has approximately 15 carbs and the large one has twice that amount, 30 carbs.  So don't grab the largest of the apples and say, "Apples contain 15 carbs"!

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PASTA SERVING SIZE

Think about this question before you read further: how much spaghetti or other type of noodles do you eat at a time?  Have your answer?  I'm afraid my answer is, "Way too much".  Ready for the answer (probably not)?  1/3 cup of cooked pasta (spaghetti, noodles, vermicelli, etc) is a serving!  Wow!  When was the last time you ate a serving of pasta?  The next time you go to your favorite Italian restaurant you had better ask for a to-go box when you place your order!

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WHAT IS A SERVING SIZE OF FRENCH FRIES?

Many don't really understand what a serving is!  A plate full of french fries is not a serving!  A serving of french fries is basically 10 fries.  Of course french fries come in many different sizes.  Use your common sense when determining how many your serving should be.  If you are eating the very thin matchstick fries, obviously 10 is not a full serving.  However if you are eating those big ole steak fries, 10 may be more than a serving.  The ten french fries that make up a serving are obviously average-sized fries.  Why is this important?  If you are on a diet for any reason, especially if you are diabetic or have a similar health situation, it is important that you don't fool yourself! To say, "I only ate a serving of french fries.  I don't know why my blood sugar shot up," is fooling yourself if you ate a regular or large size serving at your favorite restaurant.  Be responsible and eat only 1 serving, that is one real serving!