Health Tips

What is a portion of vegetables?

You can serve a half a plate of vegetables. This is considered one portion. Because most vegetables do not have calories, they can be consumed more than what is recommended. And they are very good for adding volume to the meal. So, we can afford to control intake of carbohydrates and proteins and fill in with vegetables. 

Tip: Non starch vegetables are safe to have three servings or more.

Starchy vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn are going to raise blood sugars, so these must be considered carbohydrates.

What is a portion of fruit?

Fruits such as apples, pears, oranges, tangerines, peaches, bananas - all count as one portion of a fruit. 

Fruits like watermelon, pineapple, melon, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, boysenberries, can be measured with a measuring cup. This is one serving of fruit. Because fruits do have sugar, they do have calories. So be mindful of these foods. In diabetes fruits are allowed, and yes, 2 fruit servings are good.