Is There a Nutritional Upside to a Dow...( Being Portion-Wise with Your Serving ...),Health

Being Portion-Wise with Your Serving Size Can Help Your Wallet and Waistline

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., May 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Can you trim your waistline and grocery bill at the same time? Both a registered dietitian and a "Kitchen Coach" think so and offer an array of recipe ideas and tips for an upside to a down economy.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090514/NY16694 )

As a general guide, Pat Groziak, a registered dietitian and senior lead nutrition manager for Unilever, recommends filling half of your plate with vegetables, one-fourth with a complex carbohydrate, such as pasta or rice, and one-fourth with protein for a better-balanced, calorie-controlled meal.

"With this approach, you'll get the health benefits from the nutrient-rich vegetables while helping to easily manage weight and caloric intake," says Groziak. Cutting down on serving sizes is also a way to cut costs for more expensive grocery items, such as meat, fish or poultry, while putting healthier portions on the dinner table.

"An easy way to determine how much meat or fish to consume is to compare your portion to the size of a deck of cards, which is about a three-ounce cooked serving. By being portion-wise with each serving size, you have the added benefit of keeping calories under control," Groziak added.

Jennifer Bushman, author of the "Kitchen Coach" cookbook series, has a few tips to help keep your family portion-wise and save money at the grocery store.

"Take a few minutes and plan a week's worth of lunches and dinners ahead of time. That way, you stick to your shopping list and be precise about the amount -- or weight -- of items you need, so food doesn't spoil or you don't end up s
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