Now that we’re aware of the latest Dietary Guidelines Food Groups List, it’s time to see how much of each food group we should be eating. But first, you have two choices to make:
- Eating style preference: US-Style, Mediterranean, or Vegetarian.
- Daily calorie intake.
Dietary Guidelines Food Groups Purpose
The purpose of this series of food groups list is to help you plan your eating patterns with your professional health advisers. Also, you might use it to compare plans from different sources with government guidelines.
Dietary Pattern Activity Levels
The guidelines used for this dietary pattern include recommended calorie intake based on gender and activity level. With activity levels defined as:
- Sedentary: only the physical activity of independent living.
- Moderately active: activity equivalent to walking about 1.5 to 3 miles per day at 3 to 4 miles per hour.
- Active: activity equivalent to walking more than 3 miles per day at 3 to 4 miles per hour.
Listed below are my tables for most calorie ranges from the guidelines. With each table including age and activity levels. However, your doctor, dietitian, or other professional health adviser might recommend different calorie intake. For example, where you are advised to lose weight. So you should always consult your doctor prior to changing your eating or activity patterns.
Dietary Guidelines Cup & Ounce Equivalents
In the food list, quantities marked `eq` are expressed as cup equivalents or ounce equivalents. So here is a brief explanation of these quantities:
- Vegetables, fruits (1 cup equivalent):
- Grains (1 ounce equivalent):
- Dairy (1 cup equivalent):
- Protein Foods (1 ounce equivalent):
1 cup raw or cooked vegetable or fruit; 1 cup vegetable or fruit juice; 2 cups leafy salad greens; ½ cup dried fruit or vegetable.
½ cup cooked rice, pasta, or cereal; 1 ounce dry pasta or rice; 1 medium (1 ounce) slice of bread, tortilla, or flatbread; 1 ounce of ready-to-eat cereal (about 1 cup of flaked cereal).
1 cup milk, yogurt, or fortified soy milk; 1½ ounces natural cheese such as cheddar cheese or 2 ounces of processed cheese.
1 ounce lean meats, poultry, or seafood; 1 egg; ¼ cup cooked beans or tofu; 1 tbsp nut or seed butter; ½ ounce nuts or seeds.
Finally, note that the final allowance for unclassified foods can be added to any of the main food groups — it doesn’t have to be used for alcohol or candy!
Dietary Pattern Food Group Index
Each Dietary Pattern includes food quantities for each food group per week. So this is useful for checking your weekly shopping list. As well as guiding meal plans for the week. Note that the daily list shows food quantities for some subgroups. But in practice, you are likely to vary some of these on a daily basis. Although, your weekly average should be close to 7 times the daily amount.
US-Style | Mediterranean | Vegetarian |
---|---|---|
US-Style 1600 Calorie | Mediterranean 1600 Calorie | Vegetarian 1600 Calorie |
US-Style 1800 Calorie | Mediterranean 1800 Calorie | Vegetarian 1800 Calorie |
US-Style 2000 Calorie | Mediterranean 2000 Calorie | Vegetarian 2000 Calorie |
US-Style 2200 Calorie | Mediterranean 2200 Calorie | Vegetarian 2200 Calorie |
US-Style 2400 Calorie | Mediterranean 2400 Calorie | Vegetarian 2400 Calorie |
US-Style 2600 Calorie | Mediterranean 2600 Calorie | Vegetarian 2600 Calorie |
US-Style 2800 Calorie | Mediterranean 2800 Calorie | Vegetarian 2800 Calorie |
US-Style 3000 Calorie | Mediterranean 3000 Calorie | Vegetarian 3000 Calorie |
US-Style 3200 Calorie | Mediterranean 3200 Calorie | Vegetarian 3200 Calorie |
Your Dietary Pattern
Choose your dietary pattern from the table above. Then send me your thoughts using the discussion links that are displayed after your chosen list. But if you require a different list, please tell me in ALKAscore Issues. You can also chat about related food topics in Foodary Discussions.
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