Nutrition - Food Portions

So, continuing from yesterday's post...

When talking about the different macronutrients (protein, carbs, fat), they have an approximate amount of calories and useable energy. These figures are as follows:

There are 4 calories per gram in carbohydrates, 4 calories per gram in proteins, 9 calories per gram in fats. Although alcohol is not a nutrient, there are 7 calories per gram in it... approx!

There are portion guides that people prefer to follow to save time counting each calorie they take in. Some guidelines will give out typical portions of foods to help.

According to the guidelines, these are what are classed as typical portions:

Fruit - small, medium, large, dried and juice. Small = 2 satsumas, 2 plums, 2 kiwi, 7 strawberries, 14 cherries. Medium = 1 apple, 1 banana, 1 pear, 1 orange. Large fruit = half grapefruit, one 5cm slice of melon, 1 large slice of pineapple. Dried = about 30g, one large heaped tablespoon of raisins or sultanas, handful of banana chips. Fruit juice = 150ml glass of unsweetened juice.

Veg - green veg, salad veg, cooked veg. Green = 2 broccoli spears, 4 heaped table spoons of kale, spinach, or green beans. Salad = 3 sticks of celery, 5cm piece of cucumber, 1 medium tomato, 7 cherry tomatoes. Cooked = 3 heaped tablespoons of carrots, peas, corn or cauliflower.

Bread, rice, pasta and potatoes = 1 slice of bread, handful of rice or pasta, handful of breakfast cereal, 1 small to medium potato.

Meat, fish, eggs and beans = lean meat the size of a deck of cards, 1 large egg, side of fish the size of a standard chequebook, handful of beans, nuts or seeds.

Milk and dairy = small cup of milk, 150ml of yogurt, piece of cheese size of small matchbox.

Food and drinks high in fat and sugar = limit these foods to no more than 8% of total intake.

The next post will be about food quality etc...