When most people think of this food group, they generally think of red meat, chicken and fish. In fact, most people connect this group entirely to protein. When you hear people talk about how a particular meal was made up, it’s not uncommon to hear things like “I had broccoli, sweet potato and pumpkin and then for my protein I had steak”. This group is usually looked at as the “protein group”. All the foods in this group definitely contain protein, but they contain lot of other essential nutrients as well. Generally, in Australia we are getting more protein than we need, it’s most of the other nutrients that we need to be looking at, like iodine, iron, zinc, b12 and essential fatty acids.
The iron and zinc from animal products are more easily absorbed than those from plant based foods. Nuts, seeds and legumes contain these nutrients as well, however they not as easily absorbed by us due to a number of factors. Having foods that contain vitamin C (most fruits) with the less bioavailable form of iron from plant based foods will help with absorption. For infants, adolescent girls, pregnant women, menstruating women and endurance athletes, iron is especially important. Surprisingly, most Australians are getting enough protein each day and in Australia, most adult men are eating too much red meat. In contrast to this, a lot of children and some women aren’t eating enough protein. Like the other food groups, we should be thinking more about variety. Limiting the number of times that you eat red meat to twice a week is recommended. There is a lot of evidence emerging about why this is, but that’s another topic altogether, and it deserves more time than I have to give to it today. I’ll definitely follow up on this subject in the New Year. Legumes have been added to this group as well as the vegetable group because they contain many of the nutrients found in lean meat, poultry, fish and eggs. They are essential for people following vegetarian or vegan diets to get enough nutrients without eating animal based foods. How many serves should you have each day from this food group? Women 19 to 50 yrs. 2 ½ serves per day Women 51+ 2 serves per day Pregnant women 3 ½ serves per day Lactating women 2 ½ serves per day Men 19 to 50 yrs. 3 serves per day Men 51+ 2 ½ serves per day Toddlers (1 to 2 yrs.) 1 serve per day Girls 2 to 3 yrs. 1 serve per day Girls 4 to 8 yrs. 1 ½ serves per day Girls 9 to 18 yrs. 2 ½ serves per day Boys 2 to 3 yrs. 1 serve per day Boys 4 to 8 yrs. 1 ½ serves per day Boys 9 to 18 yrs. 2 ½ serves per day How much is a serve?
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AuthorDaryl Maddern Archives
July 2019
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