Focus on Food d
Do You Suffer from Do You Suffer from
Portion Distortion? Portion Distortion?
During the last 20 years, people have
been eating larger and larger portions. One
reason for this is that restaurant portion
sizes have grown. The amount of food
sold in individual packages has increased,
too. These large portions have caused
some people to have a distorted idea of the
amount of food they need. Large portion
sizes might save you money, but they cause
you to eat more. Nutrition researchers
report that serving people supersize por-
tions causes them to overeat. Eating more
than is needed leads to bigger waistlines.
Be sure to avoid oversized portions. The
following tips can help you keep portion
size under control.
Tips for Estimating Amounts
A thumb = 1 ounce of cheese
A thumb tip = 1 teaspoon
A golf ball = 2 tablespoons
A tennis ball or computer
mouse = 1 /2 to
3/4
cup
A baseball or fist = 1 cup
A handful = 1 or 2 ounces of snack food
A deck of cards = 3 ounces
other foods. They can count in more than
one food group, 3-20. For instance, each
slice of bread in a sandwich counts as
part of the grains group. A sandwich made
with meat or peanut butter counts as part
of the protein foods group, too. The crust
from a pizza slice is from the grains group.
Its cheese topping is from the dairy group.
Tomato sauce, onions, and pepper top-
pings are from the vegetable group. Beef
stew is another example. It provides food
from both the protein foods and vegetable
groups. What are some other foods like
these that provide amounts from more than
one food group?
3-20
Foods made from a mixture of other Foods made from a mixture of other
foods don’t fi t into just one food group. They foods don’t fi t into just one food group. They
can be divided among the food groups. can be divided among the food groups.
Dairy Group
Grains Group
Vegetable Group
Protein Foods
Group
Focus on Food Focus on Food
66 Adventures in Food and Nutrition
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.