Nutrition: Serving Size and Healthy Food Choices Why is healthy eating important? When combined with exercise, a healthy diet can help you lose weight, lower your cholesterol level and improve the way your body functions on a daily basis. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Pyramid divides food into 5 basic food groups: grains, fruits and vegetables, dairy, meats and fats. The USDA recommends that you have the following number of servings from each of the main food groups every day: Grains (6-11 servings) Fruits and Vegetables (5-7 servings) Dairy (2-3 servings for men and 3-4 servings for women) Meats (2-3 servings) Fats, Oils and Sweets (use sparingly) What is serving size? Serving size is the amount of food that makes up one Food Pyramid serving. When trying to eat a healthy diet, it’s important to know how much you’re eating. Measuring and weighing your food can seem tedious and time-consuming at first, but you’ll soon learn what a single serving looks like without measuring or weighing it. See the box below for examples of serving size from each of the food groups. Tips to help you judge serving size: Grains 1 tortilla 1/2 English muffin or hamburger bun 1/2 cup cooked cereal, rice or pasta 6 to 8 crackers 1/2 starchy vegetable, such as potato 1/2 cup tofu Fruits and Vegetables 1 medium-size piece of fresh fruit 1/2 cup canned fruit or vegetable 1/2 cup dried fruit 1/2 cup cooked vegetable 1 cup leafy or raw vegetable 3/4 cup fruit or vegetable juice Meat, Poultry, Fish and Meat Alternatives 3 ounces of meat, poultry or fish (about the size of a pack of cards) 1 egg 2 tablespoons peanut butter 1/2 cup cooked dry beans Dairy 1 cup milk 1 cup yogurt 1 ounce or 1/2 cup cheese 1/2 cup cottage cheese Fats, Oils and Sweets 1 tbsp margarine 1 tbsp vegetable or canola oil 1 tbsp butter What are some easy healthy changes I can make in my diet? Grains Instead of this: Try this: Croissants, biscuits and white breads and rolls Low-fat whole grain breads and rolls (wheat, rye, pumpernickel) Doughnuts, pastries, scones English muffins, small whole grain bagels Fried tortillas Soft tortillas (corn or whole wheat), pita bread Sugar cereals and regular granola Oatmeal, low-fat granola, whole-grain cereal Snack crackers Crackers (animal, graham, rye, soda, saltine, oyster) Potato or corn chips, buttered popcorn Pretzels (unsalted), popcorn (unbuttered) Fried rice or pasta and rice mixes that contain high-fat sauces Rice or pasta (without egg yolk) with vegetable sauces Fruits and Vegetables    Instead of this: Try this: Fried vegetables or vegetables served with cream, cheese or butter sauces All vegetables raw, steamed, broiled, baked or tossed with a very small amount of olive oil Coconut Fruit (fresh or canned in light syrup) French fries, hash browns, potato chips Baked, mashed, boiled potatoes Meat, Poultry and Fish Instead of this: Try this: Regular or breaded fish sticks (cakes), fish canned in oil, seafood prepared with butter or served in high-fat sauce Fish (fresh, frozen, canned in water), low-fat fish sticks or fish cakes, shellfish Prime or marbled cuts Lean beef (round, sirloin, loin) Pork spare ribs, bacon Lean pork (tenderloin, loin chop) Regular ground beef Lean or extra lean ground beef, ground chicken or turkey breast Lunch meats such as pepperoni, salami, bologna, liverwurst Lean lunch meats such as turkey, chicken and ham Regular hot dogs or sausage Fat-free hot dogs Dairy Instead of this: Try this: Whole or 2% milk Skim or 1% milk Evaporated milk Evaporated skim milk Regular buttermilk Buttermilk made from skim (or 1%) milk Regular cheese, cream cheese Low-fat cheeses (no more than 3 grams of fat per ounce) Regular ice cream Sorbet, sherbet, nonfat or low-fat ice cream (no more than 3 grams of fat per 1/2 cup serving) Fats, Oils and Sweets Instead of this: Try this: Cookies Fig bars, ginger snaps, molasses cookies Shortening, butter or margarine Olive, vegetable or canola oils Regular mayonnaise Nonfat or light mayonnaise Regular salad dressing Nonfat or light salad dressing Using fat (including butter) to grease pan Nonstick cooking spray Other Organizations U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Pyramid http://mypyramid.gov/