Most people are confused on what constitutes a single serving. This is because a single serving is much smaller than what is sold in individual packaging or served on individual plates in restaurants. Did you know a banana is actually two servings of fruit? That a single apple is between 1 1/2 – 3 servings of fruit, depending on its size? Even nature ignores nutritionists on serving sizes, so if we want to comply with healthy standards, we’ll either have to eat so the whole day is what balances instead of each meal.
At least, that’s my opinion.
Here’s what serving sizes really are, and how many we really need:
GRAINS: ONE bagel is TWO servings of bread/grains. ½ cup of rice or pasta is a single serving. 1 cup cooked of whole grains like oatmeal, brown rice, barley, is a single serving. Recommended is 6 servings a day. That’s 3 bagels OR 6 slices of bread OR 3 cups of cooked rice or pasta OR 6 cups of cooked whole grains, or any combination that equals 6 servings.
VEGETABLES: ½ cup of cooked vegetables is a single serving. Recommended is 4-9 servings a day. That’s between 2 and 4 ½ cups of cooked vegetables.
FRUIT: A single apple is larger than a single serving. A single banana is TWO servings. A single serving of 100% juice is ½ cup – that’s 4 ounces, half what most people usually drink. Recommended is 3-5 servings a day, so go ahead and eat a whole banana, just know that you’ve eaten TWO servings of fruit with that banana.
WHITE MEATS: A single serving of white meat is 2 -3 ounces, ½ cup cooked beans, or 1/3 cup of nuts (nuts also count as fat and calcium, so one serving counts in ALL THREE CATEGORIES). One small egg counts as 1 ounce of protein, so a single serving would be 2 small eggs or one jumbo egg. A single slice of bacon is usually 1 ounce. A single serving of peanut butter is 1 tablespoon. Recommended is 2-3 servings a day – so if you have an egg for breakfast, and want meat for supper, either skip the bacon or eat just one slice so you can have a small piece of meat for your supper – and no meat at all for lunch.
FATS: A single serving is 1 teaspoon of olive, safflower, sesame, canola; ½ cup nuts (does multiple duty as protein and calcium, if you eat nuts, it counts in ALL THREE CATEGORIES); 1 tablespoon nut butter, 1 cup cooked legumes (legumes also count as calcium, so it counts in BOTH CATEGORIES). Recommended is 2-3 servings a day.
CALCIUM: A single serving is 1 cup cooked beans or legumes, ½ cup nuts (also counts as protein and fats, so one serving counts in ALL THREE CATEGORIES), ½ cup dried figs, 3 ounces canned salmon, 6 sardines in a can, ½ cup dark green leafy cooked vegetables, ½ cup tofu, 1 cup milk or yogurt, 1 ½ ounces cheese. Recommended is 2-3 servings a day.
RED MEAT: A single serving is 2-3 ounces. Recommended is 2 -3 servings a week, replacing a white meat serving.
ADDED SUGARS AND FATS: Rarely. Active people may have one sweet treat daily, less active people may want to restrict the sweets to once or twice a week. This includes cakes, cookies, pies, sodas (including “sugar-free” sodas), and candies. Use real butter instead of margarine to avoid hydrogenated fats.
FLUIDS: 64 ounces a day, can be taken as water, in liquid soups or broths, juices, teas, or coffee. Even soda counts, but soda brings high sugars with it.
This is an awful lot of food – 30 servings a day – 280 servings a week. If you break it down by meals, you’ll want 1 serving each of calcium, fats, and white meat, 1 – 2 servings of grain, 2-3 servings of vegetables, and 1 serving of fruit, with 2 snacks of 1 serving of grain or 1 or 2 servings of vegetables, or 1 serving of fruit.
I tend to plan my meals on a daily basis, not a by-meal basis, so a single meal may not be “balanced”, but all the meals and snacks throughout the day do add up to a balanced day. I think it’s easier to get the right number of servings and calories if you don’t focus on each individual meal. I also tend to eat heavier on my first meals of the day and lighter as the day progresses so the evening meal is often a “snack” compared to earlier meals of the day. Sometimes, if I know there are parties or special events or celebrations happening, I’ll plan my meals on a weekly basis so I may overindulge one or two days, but the whole week balances out nutritionally. after all, I have 280 servings to work with on a weekly basis!
Restaurants tend to serve 2 or 3 or even 4 times the recommended serving size, so if you eat out, always bring leftovers home for the next meal – or share your meal. I tend to order a to-go box at the beginning of the meal and divide it up before I eat and if I don’t have any way of storing the meal, I can hand the box to someone who’s hungry and will appreciate the food, knowing the food is uncontaminated by my touch.
