How much should you really be eating? Here we look at portion sizes vs. recommended serves
Most Aussies don’t know the difference between a portion and a serve. A recent Australian study from the University of Newcastle compared what adults and children consider typical portions of common foods (such as rice, pasta, cereal, ice cream, meat, vegetables, soft drink, milk, and chocolate) with the standard serving size. The results showed there was a big disparity between what people deemed to be a typical portion size and the nationally recommended serve.
So what’s the difference?
A serving is a set amount of food or drink (for example, one slice of break or one cup of milk) and a portion size is the amount of food that you choose to eat for a meal. Just say your portion size at breakfast is a small tub of yoghurt and one cup of muesli. This would equate to half a serve of yoghurt but four serves of muesli.
So how much should I be eating?
The amount of kilojoules you should be consuming will depend on various factors such as your age, gender, height, weight and physical activity levels. However, for the average adult, these are the recommended servings for five food groups.
Grain foods: 6 servings (One serve = 1 slice of bread, ½ cup cooked rice or ½ cup cooked pasta)
Vegetables: 4-6 servings (One serve = ½ cup cooked veg or legumes, ½ potato)
Fruit: 2 servings (One serve = 1 apple, 1 banana, 1 ½ tablespoons dried fruit)
Dairy: 2 ½ — 4 servings (One serve = 1 cup milk, 2 slices of cheese, ¾ cup yoghurt)
Lean meat or nuts: 2 ½ — 3 servings (One serve = 65g cooked meat, 100g cooked fish, 2 eggs, 80g cooked chicken, 170g tofu)
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The eight guilt-free foods that burn more calories than they contain
5 healing foods you should have in the kitchen
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