Adventures in Diet Land

What is a Serving? What is a Balanced Diet?

So, you ought to lose weight, but want to stay healthy and happy? Welcome to the company of almost everyone else on the North American continent!

Basically, weight means calories - the energy in our food. Health and happiness depend on the essential nutrients in our food. Fortunately, energy and nutrients are almost completely independent of each other, so we can have it all. But, it could come a bit more easily.

Almost every packaged food these days comes with labels based on 'servings'. What is a serving? The answer is: whatever anyone wants it to be.

I'm not kidding. The USDA defined serving sizes with a public survey - how much of what does the average American feel like eating. The USA has now legislated this approach under the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act. Some Canadian manufacturers now define a serving as 100 g, while the rest use anything handy or ignore the question. And some, as you might expect, have found that "less than a gram of fat per serving" can be said of any product if the serving is small enough!

If you need to control weight, calories are what matter. It's much more convenient to keep track of them when 'servings' have the same calories and can be simply counted.

So, I tried to find out what the calorie content of my common foods really are. There are tables of calories all over the net, and they fill shelf after shelf in libraries too. But, most of them are haphazard, generalised when generalisation is inappropriate, or (I swear) made up in dreamland they are so inconsistent.

Take "salmon". Most tables give one figure. But, chinook salmon has three times the oil content of Alaska pink. The calorie content of Atlantic salmon, now all farm raised, depends on what was fed to them. One figure for salmon is misleading to point blank wrong . . .

I've come to the conclusion that manufacturers' labels are mostly as accurate as anything else in Canada, and that the USDA is close behind, although it omits many foods common in Canada.

Here are the weights of the foods I usually buy that provide 100 calories. (Why these foods? See Adventures in Cholesterol Land and the notes below.) When a brand is mentioned, that is the source of the calorie and lipid data, otherwise it's from the USDA. All nutrients are from the USDA. The practical units are Canadian, for uncooked product unless noted. Costs are mostly early 2005 in Canadian dollars for edible portions (many foods include inedible portions in their price per kilo).

foodformserving gpractical servingcost calories from fat
total   saturated
nutrients
grains
flourwheat,white,enriched303 tablespoons$.0154%1%B1 B2 B3 B8;Fe Se
barleypot281/6 cup .02861B1;Fe Mn P Se
oatsrolled,natural261/2 cup .03153B1;Fe Mn P Se
pastacommercial35depends on form .0351B1 B2 B8;Fe Se
breadapple401 slice .05132B1 B3 B8;Fe Na Se
ricebrown281/4 cup .06371B6;Mn P
oat brannatural401/2 cup .11255B1 B5;Cu Fe K Mg Mn* P Se;PR
cornfrozen kernel1023/4 cup .2081B3 B6 B8 C;K P;LZ
vegetables
potatosteamed,with skin1151/2 cup .02110B3 B6 C;Cu Fe K Mn P
peasplit,dried301/6 cup .02530B1 B5 B8;Cu Fe K Mn P;PR
lentilgreen301/3 cup .04630B1 B5 B6 B8;Cu Fe K Mn P;PR
carrotfresh2282 large .2251 A* B1 B2 B3 B5 B6 B8 C E vK;K Mn Na P;LZ
peafrozen1191 cup .2241 A B1 B2 B3 B6 B8 C vK;Cu Fe Mn Na P;LZ* PR
squashwinter2501 cup .2720B1 B3 B5 B6 B8 C;Cu Fe K Mg Mn P*
green beanfresh32550 beans1.0631 A B1 B2 B3 B6 B8 C E vK;Ca Cu Fe K Mg Mn P;LZ
cauliflowerfresh4004 cups1.2341 B1 B2 B3 B5 B6 B8 C* vK;K* Mn Na;PR
spinachfrozen,No Name3221 package (300g)1.60228 A* B1 B2 B3 B6 B8* C* E vK**;Ca* Cu Fe* K* Mg* Mn* Na* P Se Zn;LZ** PR
broccoliflorets3303 cups2.45101 A B1 B2 B3 B5 B6 B8 C* E vK*;Ca Fe K Mg Mn Na P Se Zn;LZ* PR
cucumberfresh800(2 cucumbers)121 B1 B2 B5 B6 B8 C vK;Ca Cu Fe K* Mg Mn P
lettuce(average most types)800(12 cups chopped)101 A B1 B2 B5 B6 B8* C vK*;Ca Fe Cu K* Mn Mg Na P Zn;LZ* PR
fruit
bananapeeled1101 banana .2331B6 C;K Mn
currant(Corinth raisins),dried451/3 cup .2410Cu Fe K
apricotdried407 apricots .3120E;Fe K
tomatocanned3131/2 can .35102A B1 B2 B3 B5 B6 B8 C;Cu Fe K* Mg Mn P
applefresh2001 apple .3530C;K
orangefresh2122 oranges .3620B1 B5 B6 B8 C*;K
raspberryfresh1922-1/2 cups1.50110B5 B8** C D;Cu Fe K Mg Mn*
meat
herringcanned501 herring .235212B2 B3 B6 B12*;K Na P Se;O3 PR
sardinecanned542 sardines .255113B2 B3 B12* D*;Ca Fe Na P Se;O3 PR
pollockfrozen,Alaskan1091 fillet .68101B2 B3 B6 B12*;K Mg Na P Se*;O3 PR
clamcanned681/2 can (142 g) .95172A B2 B3 B12** C;Cu Fe K Mn Na P Se* Zn;O3 PR
salmonchum,frozen,Alaskan801 steak1.16286B2 B3 B5 B6 B12*;K P Se;O3 PR
salmonsockeye,canned,Alaskan601/3 can (213g)1.354310B2 B3 B6 B12 E;Ca K Na* P Se;O3 PR
chicken brothcondensed,No Name1390(5 cans)21 B2 B3 B12;Cu Fe Mn Na* K P Se;PR
luxuries
sugardark brown263 tablespoons .0600(none)
peanut butter100% nuts151 tablespoon .067615B3 E;Mn
breadChristmas261/2 slice .072413B1;Se
olive oilextra virgin,Colavita121 tablespoon .1110014E
plum puddingGreat Aunt Grace's30 .233920 (none)
pestoGenovese212 tablespoons .509618E vK;Fe Na

Nutrients are listed when a serving contains more than 10% of the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA; US National Academy of Sciences); * is added when it contains more than 100% of the RDA, ** more than 10x the RDA. Vitamins: A vitamin A, B1 thiamine, B2 riboflavin, B3 niacin, B5 pantothenic acid, B6 pyridoxine, B8 total folate, B12 cyanocobalamine, C vitamin C, E alpha-tocopherol, vK vitamin K. Minerals: Ca calcium, Cu copper, I iron, K potassium, Mg magnesium, Mn manganese, Na sodium, P phosphorus, Se selenium, Zn zinc. Other: LZ lutein+zeaxanthene, O3 omega 3, PR protein.

Now, how do you put these servings together to make a balanced diet?

The first thing to note from the above is how easy it is to stay low-fat! Just stay away from pre-prepared foods. None of the natural foods above exceed 30% calories from fat except meats, nuts and refined oils. Also note how much more nutritious vegetables and fish are than grains and fruit, per calorie.

A balanced diet for you is one that supplies all the essential nutrients you need for optimal health within the calorie level that results in optimal weight for you. Few subjects are more controversial, for many reasons:

I do, however, recommend "Food and Mood" by Elizabeth Somer - it's comprehensive and balanced. (If you can't find it at your local library, buy it at ABE Books, the world of books on the Internet.) The way you feel is strongly related to your health, and vice versa. Observing how you feel is an important guide to good nutrition for you.

With it, other reading, and with personal observation, I've come to the conclusion that for me, a retired male of northern European ancestry, a 90% vegan diet plus 10% fish (by calories) is close to optimal. As noted above, my food groups are grains, vegetables, fruit, and meat. I aim for a serving of fish most days, and an even spread of servings throughout the other groups each day. Total food intake is determined by checking my weight to keep it steady.

The experts claim that I need 3000 calories/day at my height, weight and activity level; even my basal (sleeping) metabolism is supposed to be 1600 calories/day! In fact, I maintain my weight steady with only 1500 calories/day. So, I initially worried about the general diet supplements that Somer recommends. But, a detailed analysis shows she is wrong - it's perfectly possible to obtain all the nutrients in vitamin supplements in adequate quantity on 1500 calories/day, and with an essentially natural diet to boot.

If my diet is mostly right, I can enjoy that occasional shrimp salad or Thanksgiving turkey! However, I did have to stop keeping in the house the foods I pig out on - in my case, cheese and nuts. I find a nearby bottle of water to be handy when I would otherwise reach for a snack. Raw carrots are also handy - by the time I've gone through 100 calories of them, my jaws are tired. (Organic carrots of course - it's great to feel virtuous!)

Here are three other ways of looking at cost, nutrition and calories. A number of foods are included that I personally skip because of cholesterol, but are useful nutritionally. All are essentially natural foods; anyone can pour chemicals over junk food and get a high vitamin score.

First, cost per 100 calories, in Ottawa, cents Canadian, in season 2004. The ranking, however, should be close for any currency. If you need to provide energy for a house full of teenagers, this is useful!

Second, I added up the percentage per 100 calorie serving each supplies of the recommended dietary allowances for all vitamins, minerals and lipids analysed by the USDA for which there are accepted RDA's, except cholesterol, saturated fat, omega-6 and sodium which were subtracted. The result is a ranking of nutrition per calorie, when you want to feel as good as possible while controlling weight. This is a very oversimplified way of looking at nutrition, but it's a useful guide to start.

Third, divide the second figure by cost per serving, and you get nutrition ranking per dollar, helpful for those of us whose funds are limited. By this ranking, the best seafoods are all canned, and fruits are off the bottom of the list (the best are kiwifruit and orange).

Cost/100 calories
potato,w/skin2.1
sugar,white2.3
rice,longgrain,white2.3
corn,oil2.3
pea,dried2.5
bean,soy2.6
canola,oil2.8
barley,pot2.8
oat,rolled3.0
cornmeal3.1
flax,seed3.1
bean,fava3.2
bean,white4.1
lentil,green4.1
cornstarch4.1
flour,wholegrain4.1
wheat,cracked4.3
sugar,brown4.4
rye,rolled4.5
bean,garbanzo4.8
bean,kidney5.3
millet5.3
pea,pigeon5.7
bean,mung5.8
pea,cow5.9
peanut,butter6.0
rice,longgrain,brown6.3
peanut,dryroast6.6
bean,lima6.6
rice,glutinous6.8
Nutrients/calorie
chard100
spinach,fresh69
kale60
collard47
clam,can46
spinach,frozen46
beef,liver41
beef,kidney27
coffee26
broccoli,florets25
chicken,liver23
oyster,can22
blueberry20
brusselsprout18
lettuce17
strawberry17
mushroom,white15
currant,black15
pepper,green15
zucchini14
cauliflower13
cabbage13
plum13
crab,king12
cod,liver,oil11
beef,heart11
lemon11
tuna,light,can10
pollock,fillet10
chocolate,bakers10
Nutrients/dollar
bean,soy100
bean,fava73
beef,liver69
pea,dried69
bean,kidney65
potato,w/skin62
flax,seed53
barley,pot52
lentil,green50
bean,white47
rye,rolled44
oat,rolled40
flour,wholegrain36
beef,kidney34
pea,cow34
wheat,cracked34
bean,garbanzo33
bean,mung32
pea,pigeon29
chicken,liver28
bean,lima28
cod,liver,oil26
bean,adzuki26
oat,bran24
cornmeal24
chard23
clam,can23
cabbage21
rice,longgrain,white21
kale20

The result - 4 months after my first test, my blood cholesterol is OK for my age: LDL down to 3.9; HDL steady at 1.6  Even better, a year later, no increase.

It's up to you. With observation, you can come to know yourself as well as any expert.

John Sankey
other notes on nutrition