What constitutes a serving?

One of the most difficult things to comprehend is just what a serving really is and how much a person should eat and just what is a serving.

Water: Most doctors now say drink half your body weight in ounces of water each day. A person weighing 100 pounds drinks 50 ounces of water a day.

Veggies Eat 3 to 5 servings a day.

• ½ cup vegetables
  
• 1 cup salad
  
• 1 Fistful of greans or vegetables
  
• ¾ cup vegetable juice
  

Grains: This is the trickiest one of all, while we are to eat 6 to 11 servings a day, most of us tend to overdo it by counting two slices of bread as one serving, etc..

• 1 slice of bread
  
• 1 oz ready-to-eat cereal
  
• ½ cup cooked grains, cereal or pasta
  
• 2 Tbsp wheat germ
  
• 1 oz (28 g) other grain products
  

Fruit: 2 - 3 servings each day.

• 1 medium sized fruit such as apple, banana, orange, pear
  
• ½ cup of sliced or canned fruit
  
• ¾ cup fruit juice
  
• ¼ c dried fruit
  

Beans, Seeds, & Legumes: 2 to 3 servings a day.

• 1 cup cooked legume (beans,lentils, dried peas)
  
• 3 Tbsp (45 mL) nut or seed butter
  
• ¼ c (60 mL) nuts & seeds
  

It is important to vary the types of foods you eat to assure the best nutritional possible. Since I follow Traditional Chinese Medicine practices, follow the seasons, warmer cooked foods in the Winter and fresher more raw foods in summer.

One way to assure vary the types is to eat a rainbow.