Elizabeth S. Reames, Charles, Sharman J.
Meat, Fish, Poultry and Beans
Foods in this group include beef, pork, fish, shellfish, veal, eggs, poultry, tofu, dried beans and nuts. These foods are valuable sources of protein, B vitamins, iron and zinc. Although iron and zinc are found in some plant foods, our bodies use these nutrients better when they come from animal sources.
Protein: Helps to build and repair body tissues.
B vitamins: Help keep skin and nerves healthy, help regulate the digestive system and help use energy from food.
Iron: Helps to build healthy blood. Without enough iron, you may become anemic. When you are anemic, you tire faster and more often. You may also feel dizzy and out of breath. Iron helps you resist infections. Iron in meats is called heme iron. Foods of plant origin contain non-heme iron. Egg yolks have mostly non-heme iron. Heme iron in meats is better absorbed by the body. To make non-heme iron more absorbable, add a vitamin C-rich food or a small amount of meat to your meal.
Zinc: This mineral is important for the brain to develop and function. Zinc also plays an important role in pregnancy. Women who have low levels of zinc early in pregnancy are more at risk of having a low-birth-weight infant. Low-birth-weight infants have more severe complications and are less likely to live beyond infancy than infants who have normal birth weights. Zinc is necessary to have a healthy immune system to fight infections and illness.
When you don't get enough zinc, any health problems you have, such as an infection, burn or diabetes, could worsen.
How Much Meat to Eat?
Foods from this group should be eaten in moderation. Adults, teens and children need to eat 5.5 ounce-equivalents daily from the meat and bean group of the USDA Food Guide. The DASH Eating Plan recommends 6 ounces or less of meat, poultry or fish.
How Much is a Serving?
Both the USDA Food Guide and the DASH Eating Plan recommend a 1 ounce-equivalent: 1 ounce of cooked lean meats, poultry, or fish (without bones). One egg counts as one ounce of meat. Try to have no more than three to four eggs a week because eggs are high in cholesterol. The USDA Food Guide equivalents are: 1/4 cup of cooked dried beans, peas or tofu as 1 ounce; 1 tablespoon of peanut butter as 1 ounce of meat and ½ ounce of nuts or seeds counts as 1 ounce of meat. The DASH Eating Plan’s equivalents are: 1½ ounces of nuts, ½ ounce seeds and ½ cup cooked dry beans.
We need 5.5 ounces of cooked lean meat each day. Let's see how we can get this amount from the different foods in the meat group. For example, 5.5 ounces might come from:
= Five and one-half ounces for the day.
Lowering the Fat in Your Diet
Most of the fat we consume comes from the meat group. Some ways to cut down on the fat intake from foods in this group include:
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Choose Less
Food Safety
Many cases of foodborne illness result from the mishandling of food in the home. Prevent foodborne illness by handling, cooking and storing food properly.
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Milk and Dairy Products
Calcium is another important part of the diet. It's the mineral your body uses to build bones and teeth. When you don't get enough calcium when you're young, you could suffer from osteoporosis when you get older. This is a painful disease in which the bones become brittle and break easily.
Getting enough calcium is especially important during pregnancy. Your baby needs calcium to build its bones and teeth. Since your baby gets its nourishment from you, it is important that you eat a diet high in calcium. Breast-feeding women also need extra calcium for themselves and their babies. Babies, young children and teen-agers need calcium because their bones and teeth are growing very fast.
Milk and milk products are our best source of calcium. Good non-dairy sources include sardines and other fish canned with the bones, dark green leafy vegetables and shellfish. Foods made with milk and milk products like macaroni and cheese, cream soups, puddings, custards and tacos also provide calcium. It's important to eat a variety of calcium-rich foods every day.
It's easy to get calcium without extra fat. Learn to read the labels and select low-fat or non-fat products. In fact, skim and low-fat milks have more calcium than regular milk.
If you have trouble drinking milk because of bloating and gas, you probably have lactose intolerance. That means you don't have the lactase enzyme needed to digest the lactose (sugar) in milk. Choose lactose- reduced milk, acidophilus milk, Lactaid tablets or drops or fermented dairy products such as buttermilk and yogurt or simply try drinking smaller amounts of milk at a time.
You Can Stretch Your Food Dollars By:
Tips That Will Help
Canned evaporated milk and non-fat dry milk can be used in most recipes calling for fresh fluid milk. Here's how to mix...
Evaporated Milk
Fresh fluid milk, milk products, opened canned milk and reconstituted dry milk should be kept refrigerated and covered. This will help it to stay fresh a long time. Store nonfat dry milk powder in a tightly covered container in a cool dry place.
How Much Calcium Do You Need?
If your age is: |
You need this much calcium: |
1-3 |
500 mg |
4-8 |
800 mg |
9-18 |
1300 mg |
19-50 |
1000 mg |
51+ |
1200 mg |
Pregnant and nursing teens |
1300 mg |
Pregnant and Nursing women |
1000 mg |
* Professionals in the area of nutrition believe we need more calcium. The National Institutes of Health recommends 1,000 mg for premenopausal and estrogen-treated women. They also recommend 1,500 mg for postmenopausal women not treated with estrogen.
How do we interpret the calcium needs into daily intake? Well, the USDA Food Guide recommends 3 cups from the milk group daily and the DASH Eating Plan recommends 2 – 3 cups daily. One cup equivalent is: 1 cup low-fat/fat-free milk or yogurt, 1½ ounces low-fat or fat-free natural cheese, 2 ounces low-fat/fat-free processed cheese. One cup of milk provides 300 milligrams of calcium.
Putting the Pieces Together to Build a Nutritious Diet
Our bodies are like cars. Cars need gas to go. We need food to go, grow and be healthy. Food we eat breaks down inside our bodies into nutrients. Nutrients are the tiny individual parts of foods that our bodies need to live. Nutrients include: protein - for building and repair; carbohydrate - for energy; fat - for energy; vitamins - help protein, fat and carbohydrate do their jobs; minerals - body structure and help other nutrients do their jobs.
Eating the right types and amounts of foods is important for us to get all the nutrients we need to be healthy.
Variety and balance are the important ideas for a good food plan. No one food contains all the nutrients we need. Following the Food Guide helps us to eat a variety of foods. Eating a variety of foods helps us get all of the needed nutrients.
Calcium, vitamins A and C and iron are included on the Nutrition Facts label because they are problem nutrients.
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