Calculate How Many Fruits and Vegetables You Need Everyday

I found an interesting tool from Center for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) to calculate how many cup of fruits and vegetables you need to consumption everyday to meet the recommendation. The calculation is base on your age, gender and physical activity level. Enter the information as I mention above can calculate the amount that;s right for you. Let's have a try through the URL::

 http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/fruitsvegetables/howmany.html

Complementary Feeding: How much to Feed?

Complementary foods need to be appropriate to baby's stage of development. Amount of complementary food to babies at different stages of age are slightly different. Here I share the quantity of complementary food recommended by a Cookbook which was published by Nutrition Society Malaysia.

Why 5 A Day?

Why 5 A DAY?

Base on the advice from WHO, consume a minimum of 400g of fruit and vegetables a day to lower the risk of health problems such as heart disease, stroke, type  two diabetes, and obesity.  Hence, your five portions of fruit and vegetables will contain different combinations of fiber, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients for diseases prevention.

What count towards 5 A DAY?

Almost all fruit and vegetables count towards your 5 A DAY.

The following count towards your 5 A DAY:

• Fresh fruit and vegetables.
• Frozen fruit and vegetables.
• Tinned or canned fruit and vegetables without added sugar or salt.
• Dried fruit, such as currants, dates, sultanas and figs. 
• Fruit and vegetables cooked in dishes such as soups, stews or pasta dishes.
• A glass (150ml) of unsweetened pure fruit or vegetable juice. (Juice counts as a maximum of one portion a day, however much you drink. That's mainly because juice contains less fibre than whole fruits and vegetables)
• Smoothies. A smoothie containing all of the edible pulped fruit and/or vegetable may count as more than one portion but this depends on how it's made. Smoothies count as up to a maximum of two portions per day. 
• Beans and pulses. These only count as one portion a day, no matter how many you eat. That's because they contain fewer nutrients than other fruits and vegetables.
• Fruit and vegetables in convenience foods, such as ready meals and shop-bought pasta sauces, soups and puddings. Some ready-made foods are high in salt, sugar and fat, so only have them occasionally or in small amounts. You can find the salt, sugar and fat content of ready-made foods on the label.  

*Sweet potatoes, parsnips, swedes and turnips do count toward your 5 A DAY, because they are usually eaten in addition to the starchy food part of the meal.

 *Potatoes and cassava don’t count because they mainly contribute starch to the diet.

Source: www.nhs.uk

Case Study 1

Today my customer Mr Adrian drop by and we had a long chat. His main concern is to reduce visceral fat.

He sent me this image and need some feedback from us. We will use this as a case study, with the permission from Mr Adrian. The picture below show his plan for lunch. Steam fish with lady's finger, tomatoes, ginger, red chillies.

Additional information:
- Mr Adrian is an active swimmer

Colour nutrition feedback:

Similar with weight control, follow a low-calorie and high fiber diet is crucial in visceral fat control. In my opinion, Mr Adrian’s recipe is a good example of low-calorie cooking method which is steam. Besides, this recipe contains 2 food groups which are protein (fish) and fiber (lady’s finger, tomatoes). However, kindly take note to avoid fried onion and the frying oil which is commonly used as taste enhancer in steam fish to reduce the fat content in this recipe. Mr Adrian’s lunch could be balanced after adding starchy food (for example, rice) and a serving of fruit/ fruit juice. Finally, I would like to remind Mr Adrian that exercise regularly is very crucial for visceral fat control. Exercise for at least 30 minutes most of the day in a week is very important in visceral fat control.

It has tomatoes, which provide the RED colour. Below is the nutrition values for tomato:

Tomato contain nutrients such as niacin, folate and vitamin B6. All this have associated with the reduction of heart disease risk. One study found that women who ate 7 to 10 servings of tomato products per week had a 29 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease than women who consumed less than a serving and a half of tomato products each week.

Tomato has been shown to protect against thrombosis (blood clots in the blood vessel). Drinking tomato juice can reduce blood levels of TNF-alpha by 34%. TNF-alpha causes inflammation. High levels of TNF-alpha have been found in individuals with most chronic, degenerative diseases such as heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis and Alzheimer’s.

It has lady's finger (or known as OKRA), which provides the GREEN colour.  It’s high in vitamin B6, fiber, calcium, and folic acid.

The superior fiber found in okra helps to stabilize blood sugar as it curbs the rate at which sugar is absorbed from the intestinal tract. Okra’s mucilage (sticky sticky) binds cholesterol and bile acid carrying toxins dumped into it by the filtering liver.

The okra fiber helps prevent and improve constipation, by absorbing water and ensuring bulk in stools. Okra also helps to support the structure of capillaries.Okra is used for healing ulcers and to keep joints limber. It helps to neutralize acids, being very alkaline, and provides a temporary protective coating for the digestive tract.

MyPlate in Malaysia

In Malaysia, we have healthy eating plate, which is also known as pinggan pemakanan sihat for our toddlers and children. Portions of all food groups were categorized according to age groups, which were 1-3 years old, 3-4 years old and 6 years old and above. The line on the plate may help the mummy to serve balance and adequate amount of food to their children.

The 3 plates shown above might look alike. However, the portion is different for different age group. This is pretty straightforward for parent to just serve according to the portion shown on the plate.

We have this plate at home now and although it may seem not attractive enough, but it does serve its purpose to guide parent to serve their kids with the right portion.