A Guide to Eating

ESTHER F. PHIPARD AND LOUISE PAGE.

TODAY'S markets are overflowing with an abundance of foods. With so much to choose from, how can we be sure that the kinds of foods we select will give a good diet?

The daily food guide is an answer. It points out the main kinds of foods to include in our meals each day. The pattern of choices suggested are based on what we know about people's needs for vitamins, minerals, protein, and other nutrients.

In the guide, foods valuable for proteins and key minerals, vitamins, and other essentials are grouped into four main classes according to their major contributions of nutrients. Then the number of servings that it will take to add up to a good diet is listed.

There is ample choice within groups to allow for varied meals from day to day. Choices within groups allow us to select favorite foods, foods within the family budget, and those in season.

The foods grouped together furnish about the same nutrients, but they vary in the amounts they provide in a serving. They are enough alike that we can make different selections from a group with the assurance that our choices will contribute their share of nutrients toward a good diet.

MILK, cheese, and ice cream make up a group. Milk is outstanding for calcium. Unless some milk is used each day, it is difficult to get the amount of calcium recommended for all.

Milk is also a valuable provider of high-quality protein, riboflavin, and other vitamins and minerals. Whole milk and some fortified milk also offer vitamin A. Much of the homogenized milk and practically all evaporated carry vitamin D.

Suggested amounts of milk for a day are 3 to 4 cups for children, 4 or more cups for teenagers, and 2 or more cups for adults.

Many forms of milk are available, and any of them can count toward the daily quota. These include whole fluid milk, concentrated milk, evaporated milk, buttermilk, skim milk, and whole or nonfat dry milk. Cheese and ice cream may be used as alternates for milk because they contribute the same nutrients as milk, though in different proportions.

When cheese and ice cream replace milk, enough of them should be eaten to provide the amounts of calcium we would have had from the milk. Here are common portions of a few familiar cheeses and of ice cream with their milk equivalent in calcium: One-inch cube of Cheddar-type cheese equals two-thirds cup of milk; one-half cup of cottage cheese equals one-third cup milk; 2 tablespoons of cream cheese equal 1 tablespoon of milk, and one-half cup of ice cream equals one-fourth cup of milk.

MEAT AND ALTERNATES are another main group. Meat, fish, poultry, and eggs are excellent sources of high-quality protein. They also furnish good amounts of iron, thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin, but some are better providers than others.

Liver is outstanding among meats because of the generous amounts of many vitamins and minerals it contains. Other variety meats, as heart and kidney, also are rich in a number of nutrients. Pork, too, deserves special mention since it is high in thiamine.

Beef, veal, lamb, pork, variety meats, poultry, eggs, fish, and shellfish are examples of possible choices from the meat group. Alternates include lentils, peanuts, and peanut butter in addition to dry beans, dry peas, and nuts.

Suggested amounts for a day from this group of foods are two or more servings of meat, poultry, fish, or eggs, with dry beans, dry peas, and nuts used occasionally as alternates.

Amounts of these foods to count as a serving are 2 to 3 ounces of lean cooked meat, poultry, or fish (this amount is without bone, fat, or gristle); 2 eggs, 1 cup of cooked dry beans, dry peas, or lentils; 4 tablespoons peanut butter.

If less than these quantities of a food is eaten, it counts as only a part of a serving. An egg, for instance, would be one-half serving, and we would need an additional one and one-half servings to make up the two servings recommended as a minimum for a day from the meat group.

VEGETABLES AND FRUIT, a third group, furnish a substantial share of the vitamin A value and nearly all the vitamin C (ascorbic acid) available to us from food.

Four or more daily servings of vegetables and fruit are recommended in the guide. A serving each day of a citrus fruit or other fruit or vegetable important for vitamin C and a serving at least every other day of a dark-green or deep-yellow vegetable for vitamin A are included in this number.

Color, in this instance, is a general guide to food value. The deeper the yellow, as in carrots and winter squash compared with corn, or the darker the green, as in kale or spinach compared with green snap beans, the better the food is for vitamin A. Consequently, we stress the dark-green and deep-yellow vegetables and a few fruits in the guide for this nutrient. These include apricots, broccoli, cantaloup, carrots, chard, collards, cress, kale, mango, persimmon, pumpkin, spinach, sweetpotatoes, turnip greens and other dark-green leaves, and winter squash.

Many dark-green vegetables also are important for calcium, riboflavin, vitamin C, and iron.

Oranges and grapefruit and their juices fresh, frozen, or canned are outstanding for vitamin C. Other good sources are broccoli, cantaloup, guava, mango, papaya, peppers, and fresh strawberries.

Some vegetables and fruit, though containing less vitamin C in a common serving than the items just listed, do provide worthwhile amounts. We can have two servings of these foods during a day, if we want, instead of a single serving of the better sources we mentioned. The vegetables include asparagus tips, brussels sprouts, raw cabbage, collards, garden cress, kale, kohlrabi, mustard greens, potatoes and sweet-potatoes cooked in the jacket, spinach, tomatoes and juice, and turnip greens. The fruits include honeydew melon, tangerines and juice, and watermelon.

One-half cup of vegetable or fruit, or a portion as ordinarily served, such as one medium apple, banana, orange, or potato, or half a medium grapefruit, or cantaloup, can count as a serving.

BREAD AND CEREALS are a fourth group. These foods, especially the whole-grain, enriched, and restored kinds, are valued for protein, iron, several of the B vitamins, and food energy (calories).

The four servings suggested from this group may consist of three slices of bread and a serving of cereal. One ounce of ready-to-eat cereal, one-half to three-fourths cup of cooked cereal, including cornmeal, grits, macaroni, noodles, rice, and spaghetti, are amounts to count as a serving. If no cereals are eaten, we may use two slices of bread instead, making a total of five slices for the day. It takes about two slices of bread to give the same food value as we would get from a serving of many cereals.

Any of these, if whole grain, enriched, or restored, can count toward the suggested four daily servings: Bread, cooked cereals, ready-to-eat cereals, cornmeal, crackers, flour, grits, macaroni, noodles, rice, rolled oats, spaghetti, quick breads, and other baked goods. If in doubt as to enrichment, do not count them toward the daily quota.