Food Guide Pyramid
A diet of variety and moderation is easy to achieve when using the Food Guide Pyramid. Take a close look and see how you are doing on the number of servings in each food group. Most people get more servings than they need of the food groups towards the top and not enough servings of the foods towards the bottom of the pyramid.
Here are some helpful examples of servings:
| Food Group | Suggested Daily Servings | Serving sizes |
|---|---|---|
| Breads, cereals and other grains | 6-11 servings | 1 slice of bread; ½ hamburger bun, bagel or English muffin; a small roll, biscuit, or muffin; ½ cup cooked cereal, rice, or pasta; 1 ounce of cold cereal |
| Fruits | 2-4 servings | A whole fruit such as a medium apple, banana, or orange; a grapefruit half; a melon wedge; ¾ cup of juice; ½ cup of berries, ½ cup of cooked or canned fruit; ¼ cup of dried fruit. |
| Vegetables | 3-5 servings | ½ cup cooked vegetables; ½ cup of chopped raw vegetables; 1 cup of leafy raw vegetables, such as lettuce or spinach |
| Meat, Poultry, Fish and nuts | 2-3 servings | 2-3 ounces of cooked meat (size of a deck of cards); count 1 egg, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter or 1/3 cup of nuts as 1 ounce of meat |
| Milk, Cheese and Yogurt | 2-3 servings | 1 cup of milk; 8 ounces of yogurt, 1 ½ ounces of natural cheese; 2 ounces of processed cheese |
| Fats, Sweets and Oils | Use sparingly |
Finally, get in the habit of checking out the food label when you are shopping. Today’s food labels are there to help you out. Look at important nutrition information like saturated fat, fiber, calcium, iron and sodium to see how “fit” your food is. Remember that these calculations are based on 1 serving, so take note of the product’s serving size. Reading the label tells you more about the food and what you are getting so, take a minute to check out the food label when you are shopping.