Friday, March 5, 2010

THAT'S A PORTION!?! Prepare for portion distortion...



Portion Distortion

I am the type of person who eats everything placed before them. No food is left untouched on my plate. So when I realized what an actual serving (the recommend amount of food referenced on the nutrition label) looked like compared to the portion size (the amount of food you decide to eat) on my plate, I was in shock.

American’s portion sizes have supersized over the last 20 years. Now the larger portions are what we consider “normal.” Understanding what a serving size is, along with making good food choices can help you eat healthier.

These comparisons can help you “eyeball” serving sizes to give you a better idea of how many servings make up your portion when eating out, grabbing food on-the-go, or simply eating at home.

1 baked potato/sweet potato should equal the size of a computer mouse

2 servings of cooked vegetables = baseball

1 serving of hard cheese = 3 dice

2 servings of cooked pasta, cereal, and rice = baseball
1 serving of bread = cassette tape

1 serving of meat = deck of cards

1 serving of ice cream = light bulb

1 brownie = dental floss

1 burrito = checkbook


Edible Nutrition’s Intern, Sarah Franz
Sfranz7713@pointloma.ed

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That picture is a screen shot from webmd.com's portion size plate. You should link it or give them credit for doing the work if you are going to have a picture of their website on your post. Just wanted to give you a friendly reminder if you didn't know where that picture came from so you can give credit.

Edible Nutrition said...

Thank you! I have removed this photo, and I'll be sure to let my intern know about that in the future. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. These are photos from my work now instead!