What are we eating today? It is a question for many families asking themselves not knowing what kind of food to eat. Nutrition experts found that having a manual which comprising a bill for breakfast, dinner, and tea for every day in the year would be very helpful and reduce trouble for ladies of thinking on what will be on the table seasonably.
The Daily Food Guide is recommended adequate daily amounts of calories and protein, five mineral, and ten vitamins for men, women (including pregnant and nursing women), infants, and children at various ages. The minerals and vitamins which it omits either do not have an established human requirement or are so widely distributed in foods that they are seldom lacking in the diet if the other requirements are met.
A panel of nutrition experts determines the allowances according to current scientific findings. They allow for margins of safety above what are believed to be the minimum requirements of these nutrients. The allowances are designed for normally active, healthy persons living in a temperature climate such as the United States of America. In hotter or colder countries the needs for some of the nutrients vary. Nutritional needs increase during pregnancy and lactation and vary during childhood and adolescence. Illness also effects the requirements.
The Daily Food Guide offers a framework for nutritious meals. It is not a complete menu, but consists of four food groups with suggested portions. In using the guide, below choose a least the minimum number of servings recommended from each group. Then select additional foods to around out the diet to maintain ideal weight.
Choose from day to day and week to week a wide variety of wholesome foods, because each food contributes not one but several essential nutrients. Variety is needed to ensure good nutrition.
DAILY FOOD GUIDE
1. Protein foods- 2 serving or more from the following:
Cheese, eggs, mature legumes, nuts, vegetables protein either commercially or home prepared (such as gluten, soymeat, nutmeat, and cereal- legume- nut combinations of appreciable protein content) meat including –nut including fowl and fish.
2. Milk and milk products:
Children- 2 to 4 cups
Teen-agers- to 4 cups (boys may drink more)
Adults- 2 or more cups
3. Vegetables and fruits:
4 or more servings
Dark green or deep yellow vegetables at least every other day
Leafy green vegetables freely
Other vegetables, including potatoes, liberally
Citrus fruits or juice, tomato juice or other foods high in vitamin C, daily.
Other fruits liberally
4. Bread and cereals
4 or more servings
Whole grain, preferably; otherwise, enriched or restored Fats as such are not mentioned in the Daily Food Guide although they are an essential part of the diet. The reason is that the average American tends to include ample, if not too much, fat in his/her own diet.
With the amounts of butter, cream and salad dressing customarily used in seasoning or on bread, and with that present in such foods as milk, eggs, nuts, olives, and avocados, there is little possibility of a deficiency. In general, fats from vegetables sources are to be preferred. They contain a higher percentage of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids.
As we look more closely at the groups within the Guide we can see that each contributes to our daily needs.
The protein group has a variety of foods from which to choose. It is wise to use some protein food or milk product at each meal. Cottage cheese is a good source of protein. Four ounces (one-half cup) furnishes 15 grams or approximately one-fourth of the day’s requirement of protein. In the making of cottage cheese some calcium and riboflavin are separated in the whey, thus cottage cheese in lower in these two nutrients than milk. Cheddar type cheese, if made from whole milk, contains similar properties to that of milk. One ounce of processed cheddar cheese contains calcium equal to two-thirds cup of milk.
Eggs supply about equal amounts of high quality protein and fat. They are a good source of vitamin A and iron and supply some riboflavin and thiamine and varying amounts of other minerals and vitamins. The yolk furnishes most of the minerals, vitamins and fat. The fat is in a finely emulsified, easily digested form. Egg yolk is high in cholesterol. For this season only three to four egg a week are suggested.
Legumes are inexpensive source of protein. When used simultaneously with other foods such as whole wheat they are of good nutritional value- high in starch, a good source of thiamine, niacin, and iron, and a fair source of calcium.
Soybeans or soy flour and chick peas (garbanzons) are almost comparable to meat in protein value. Soybeans are a good source of iron, and are high in a fat than other legumes.
Peanuts, legumes resembling nuts in texture and fat content, are one of the richest sources of niacin and a good source of protein. Four tablespoons of peanut butter supply about the same amount of protein as 2 ounces of lean cooked meat (without bone).
All nuts contain fair amounts of protein. Unlike legumes, they contain little starch but rich in fat. They contribute from fair to generous amounts of thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin, and good amounts of iron. Nuts and legumes deserve a large place in the diet and should be classed as protein –rich foods.
Prepared vegetables proteins made of legumes, cereal (including wheat gluten) various forms of soybeans and nuts, lend variety to your menu and are valuable sources of protein. Like nuts and legumes, their values are enhanced when served in combination with milk, eggs, and green, leafy vegetables. Products made from gluten, a wheat protein, may be used in planning diets low in fat and carbohydrate.
Milk and Milk products are especially important for their high quality protein, calcium, phosphorus, and riboflavin content. Milk is a good source of most of the essential nutrients but contains only small amounts of iron and vitamins C. It is of special value in the diets of growing children, adolescents, and pregnant and nursing women because it aids in building new tissues, bones, teeth, and muscles. Some people prefer to be substitute vegetable milk for cow`s milk. They most commonly use soya bean milk. It contains a good protein and some vitamins and minerals. Unless it is enriched, however, one half cup contains only 48 milligrams of calcium in contrast to the 118 milligrams in cow`s milk. Although it has more than twice the thiamine of cow`s milk, vegetable milk needs to be fortified with calcium and vitamins B12 if used as a substitute.
Vegetables and fruits are good sources of minerals and vitamins. Most of them do not contain much protein. The protein of green, leafy vegetables is of high quality, but is in too minute a quantity to make an appreciable contribution to the daily diet. Dark green leafy and deep yellow vegetables are excellent sources of carotene, which the body turns into vitamins A. Raw cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, green peppers and some other vegetables are good sources of vitamin C.
Potatoes, sweet potatoes, and yams are comparatively high in carbohydrate. Although not the best source of vitamin C, they contribute good amounts of this vitamin and other minerals and vitamins. Sweet potatoes and yams, like other yellow vegetables, furnish carotene. Other vegetables add variety to the diet and when used liberally add appreciable amounts of minerals and vitamins. They also improve greatly the general nutritional quality of the diet. Fruits, because of the pleasing aroma, appearance, and flavour are a favourite food group. Citrus fruits and tomatoes contribute much of the vitamin C in the American diet. One cup of orange juice (canned, fresh, or frozen) will supply more than the day`s requirements. The same amount of tomatoes juice supplies about half as much. Strawberries, papayas, and cantaloupes rate with citrus fruits in vitamins C content.
Deep yellow fruits as persimmons, peaches, apricots, cantaloupes, and mangoes are excellent sources of carotene, the precursor of vitamin A. Dried fruits such as apricots, peaches, figs, dates, prunes, and raisins are concentrated sources of sugar, vitamins, and minerals, especially iron. Other fruits, including apples and bananas, add varying amounts of minerals and vitamins. When used plentifully, fruits makes the diet more palatable and nutrition.
Cereals and breads figure largely in the diets of many people of the world. They are rich in starch, the whole grain and enriched varieties contain valuable contribution of iron, thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin. When used liberally they also furnish substantial amounts of protein. Combined with milk, the protein is of high quality. Using a mixture of whole grains in cereals or breads increases the value of the protein.
Because the minerals and vitamins are held largely in the outer layers of the kernels or in the germ, most of them are lost in the milling process. Enriched or restored cereals and breads contain added thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, and iron. The practice of enrichment of white flour has helped many who use white bread and refined cereals. When possible it is better to choose largely from whole grain products and thus benefit from the additional nutrients they normally contain. You should note that the commonly found “wheat bread” (in contrast to 100% whole wheat bread) may contain less minerals and vitamins than enriched white bread.
Cellulose, or roughage, is the indigestible fibre found in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. These foods, eaten in amounts suggested in the Daily Food Guide, furnish most of the roughage required in the diet and desirable for the proper function of the digestive tract.
In summary the following points could be considered
1. Choose daily from each food group at least the minimum amounts suggested in the Daily Food Guide.
2. Include a protein food or milk or both with each meal.
3. Choose a wide variety of wholesome, unrefined foods.
4. Eat enough to maintain ideal weight.
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