Field Notes

• Food Portions
• Whole Grains
• Sample Food Plan

Food Portions

This section, based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005, will help you meet your micronutrient needs. The new guidelines increase the emphasis on fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain products.

A serving is a method of describing food portions. Everyone should eat a minimum of four servings (2 cups) of fruit and four to five servings (2 to 2½ cups) of vegetables daily. Those involved in arduous work should increase the amount of fruit to five servings (2½ cups) and vegetables to eight servings (4 cups). Examples of fruit and vegetable servings include:

Fruit	Vegetables (1 cup raw or ½ cup cooked)
1 apple or 1/3 cup apple juice	Cabbage
1 orange or ½ cup orange juice	Celery
1 cup vegetable juice	Cucumber
4 apricots	Green onion
3/4 cup blueberries	Green, red, or hot peppers
½ banana	Lettuce
12 cherries	Mushrooms
½ grapefruit	Radishes
15 grapes	Spinach
1 nectarine	Zucchini
1¼ cup strawberries
1¼ cup watermelon
4 rings of dried apples
3 prunes
2 tablespoons of raisins

Choose from a variety of fruits and vegetables each day. Make sure that you select vegetables from all five subgroups several times a week: dark green, orange (carrots), legumes, starchy vegetables, and other vegetables.

Whole Grains

Whole-grain products are important sources of energy, fiber, and micronutrients. Everyone should eat six servings of whole grains, enriched, or whole-grain products daily. When you are doing arduous work, increase the intake of whole-grain products to meet your energy needs.

Whole grains

1 slice (1 ounce) whole-grain bread
½ cup cooked oatmeal
1/3 cup All Bran
1 cup whole-grain flaked cereal
½ 12-inch whole-grain tortilla
½ whole-wheat English muffin
½ whole-grain bagel
½ cup shredded wheat
½ cup cooked, whole-wheat pasta

For additional information, review the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 at: http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005

Sample Food Plan

Here is a sample food plan that meets the protein, carbohydrate, and fat requirements for a firefighter (70 inches tall, weighing 175 pounds) doing very hard work. The plan provides: 5,000 calories, 182 grams of protein (2.3 grams per kilogram of body weight), 725 grams of carbohydrate (9 grams per kilogram of body weight), and 164.5 grams of fat.

All micronutrient needs meet the recommended daily reference intake.

Breakfast

Large whole-grain bagel (4 ounces)
2 tablespoons peanut butter
16 ounces orange juice
1 cup applesauce

Snack

2 granola bars
16 ounces Gatorade

Lunch

1 medium apple
4 ounces Swiss cheese
4 ounces lean ham
2 teaspoons mustard
4 slices whole-wheat bread
Lettuce
Carrots

Snack

¼ cup pecans
¼ cup raisins
¼ cup apricots, dried
16 ounces Gatorade

Dinner

6-ounce chicken breast
2 medium sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons soft margarine
1 cup broccoli
2 packets of hot cocoa mix
2 cups salad greens
2 tablespoons oil and vinegar dressing
2 whole-wheat rolls
1 tablespoon soft margarine

Also

2 bananas
3 cups grape juice
4 ginger snaps