HealthTip: Portion Sizes

We are often told that most of us need 5-10 servings of vegetables and fruit each day to help reduce the risk of certain cancers and protect against heart disease; but what exactly counts as a serving and how can you get enough each day?
The idea is to incorporate a vegetable/fruit at each meal and try to reach the recommended servings for your age group (this information can be found on the Health Canada Food Guide website: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/basics-base/quantit-eng.php). It's often confusing trying to figure out how much food actually is equivalent to one serving, so hopefully the following examples will help clarify this!
The following are examples of 1 food guide serving of fruits or vegetables:

• 1/2 cup of vegetables
• 1/2 cup of fruit
• 1 medium apple/orange/ banana/ nectarine/ pear
• 1 large kiwi/ plum
• 3 apricots
• 1/4 cup or 60mL dried fruit
• 1/2 cup broccoli/ green beans/ carrots/ asparagus/ pepper/ yam/ zucchini
• 1 large carrot
• 1 cup raw leafy greens e.g. lettuce, endive, kale, mustard greens
• 1/2 cup of 100% fruit/ vegetable juice

For example, having 1 apple at breakfast, 1/4 cup carrots, 1/4 cup peppers, and 1 cup lettuce in a salad, along with 1/2 cup of green beans and 1/2 cup of yams at dinner would already be equivalent to 5 servings of fruits and vegetables. Using these foods as snacks and in desserts are also a great way to get more fruits and vegetables into your diet!

Information Source:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/choose-choix/fruit/serving-portion-eng.php