Moderation ensures we don’t eat more than what our body needs. It is eating the right amount everyday thus avoiding both insufficient and excessive consumption which can lead to malnutrition and health problems. We have long heard of moderate drinking pertaining to alcoholic drink which is 1-2 drinks per day – 1 drink for women, 2 drinks for men. This is on a per day basis, not average per day. It is one’s “ allowance” per day. If you did not drink for a day, forget about it. The amount of alcohol therein, can be processed by a healthy body, the liver especially, without causing adverse effects. Drinking more is excessive which can be damaging or toxic. One drink is equivalent to one bottle of beer, or ½ glass (120 ml) wine or 1 ounce (28 ml) of 80-proof spirit, rhum of vodka.
What about moderation in eating? Depending on sex and age, there are recommended energy and nutrient intakes per day. However, we don’t normally compute unless we consult a dietitian and have the recommendations be translated into number of servings per day and sample menu be developed too. For practicality, one can refer to the Food Pyramid for Filipinos developed by the FNRI-DOST. At a glance, the pyramid shows the proportion of each of food items in the 7 food groups (vegetable, fruits, milk, sugar, rice, meat and fats) in comparison with other food groups. One of good nutritional status can follow the number of servings for each food group. On a daily basis for adults (20-39 years old) for example, 5-8 servings of rice or substitute, 2-3 servings of fruit, 3 servings of vegetables, 1 serving of milk or substitute, 3-5 servings of meat, fish or poultry and their products, 5-8 servings of sugar and 6-8 teaspoons of oil, are allowed. Please refer to https://www.fnri.dost.gov.ph/index.php/tools-and-standard/nutritional-guide-pyramid for other age groups. The number of servings may also differ for certain conditions like if overweight or obese, adjustments have to be made for the fat, sugar, rice group and meat exchanges. Milk be low fat instead of whole milk.
Sizes of one serving vary. The following are sample sizes of one serving, each can be interchanged with another food item in the same group for variety. Vegetables – ½ cup cooked or uncooked; 1 tablespoon canned green peas; Fruits – 1 piece medium-size lakatan or small apple;2-3 pieces guava; 1 regular slice of papaya, etc; Rice and substitutes – ½ cup rice, packed; 2 pcs regular loaf bread; ¾ cup cubed rootcrop; ½ cup cornflakes; meat/fish/poultry – 1 small matchbox size pork or beef, 1 slice chicken like leg or wing, 1 piece egg, 1 piece galunggong/small tilapia/hasa-hasa, ¼ cup tuna flakes/corned beef; Milk – 5 tablespoons powder, 1 cup fresh milk, ½ cup evap milk or yogurt; Sugar – 1 piece candy, 1 teaspoon table sugar/condensed milk, 2 teaspoons jam/jelly; Fat – 1 teaspoon cooking oil/mayonnaise, 1 tablespoons mixed nuts, 1 thin slice avocado. Of course there are food items which contain a combination of food groups. Please consult a dietitian for a detailed planning to suit your condition.
