Dietary Guidelines

You have probably heard before about "eating healthy", but what exactly is it and how do you make sure you are giving your body the right amount of nutrients and food? MyPlate is a great tool to include in your life when deciding to eat healthy and it is  based on the Dietary Guidelines; it gives you an idea of what your diet should look like to make sure you are getting the right amount of nutrients and how much of each food group you should aim to include in your everyday diet habits. 

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There are 5 groups that you should keep in mind when planning your meals throughout the day. A balanced and healthy "plate" should include:

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• Fruits: The amount of fruits you should aim to include in your diet on a daily basis is 1-2 cups depending on the person. Children tend to need about 1-1.5 cups, while adults tend to need 1.5-2 cups. One cup counts as 1 cup of fruit or 100% fruit juice (no sugar or processed juice), 1/2 cup of dried fruit counts as one cup of fruit. To learn more about examples of fruit servings, and how many servings of fruit you need, click here.

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• Vegetables: The amount of vegetables you need to eat everyday varies from 1-3 servings. The servings depend on age, sex, and physical activity. Children typically need 1-2 servings while adults are more likely to need 2-3 servings.1 serving counts as a cup and vegetables are classified in 5 different categories: Dark green vegetables, red and orange vegetables, beans and peas, starchy vegetables, and others. It is important to eat a variety of vegetables to get as many nutrients as possible and have fun diet. To learn more about vegetables, and get an estimate on how many servings of veggies you need to eat a day, click here.  

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• Grains: Grains is any food that contains wheat, rice, oats, barley or any kind of cereal. Grains can be whole grains or refined grains. Refined grains are processed and have less nutritional value, there can be some added vitamins and minerals to these grains. On the other hand, whole grains are less processed and give you more natural nutritional value. It is always better to choose whole grains over refined grains because they give you the nutrients naturally and since they also have more fiber (which will usually not be added back to refined grains). How many servings of whole grains depends again from person to person, but the average servings a day are 3-8 ounces. The more physically active you are, the more grains you will need to include in your diet. 1 ounce is equivalent to 1 serving. To learn about what is the equivalent of an ounce in grains, and to see how many ounces in average you need to consume a day, click here. 

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• Protein: Protein can be gotten into your diet by consuming meat, eggs, poultry, seafood, beans and peas, nuts, and seeds. How much protein we need again, depends on a person's age, sex, physical activity. It can vary from 2 - 6 1/2 ounces a day. Those who are more physically active require more energy. 1 ounce of protein can include 1/4 cup cooked beans, 1 egg, 1 tbsp peanut butter, 1/2 ounce of nuts and seeds. To learn more about the different protein options and how much protein you should eat on average, click here. 

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• Dairy: For a food to be considered part of the dairy group, it has to have a good amount of calcium. Cream cheese, cream, or butter are not considered dairy when it comes to MyPlate. Milk, yogurt, cheeses, and even calcified soymilk are considered dairy. On average, we need between 2-3 cups everyday, but again, these recommendations vary on age, sex, and physical activity. Most of the time, the average is 3 cups/servings. If you wish to learn more about dairy and their servings, click here. 

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• Oils: It is important to mention that oils are not a food group, but they are required in the diet and provide some essential nutrients. Oils are dietary fats at room temperature. You can get your oils from plant oils (such as canola oil, olive oil, corn oil, etc), nuts, mayonnaise, salad dressings, among others. The recommendations for oils are different from children than adults, and it can vary from 3 teaspoons to 7 teaspoons depending on age, sex, and physical activity. It is important to be aware that they provide a great range of calories in a small serving so keeping that in mind when you are measuring your oils. To learn more about oils, click here.