The Nutrition Information Centre of the
University of Stellenbosch (NICUS)
Food and guidelines for healthy eating
Menus And Meal Examples
Portion/Food Unit Guide
Portion
A portion is the amount of food that a person eats of one food at one time. Members of the same family may have different portion sizes of some foods, e.g. active men will have a bigger portion of starchy food than women, but they will all have the same portion size of vegetables. A single portion of food may have one or more units (food guide units) that are eaten at one time.
Unit / food guide unit
A unit of food within a food group is calculated based on the nutritional value of the food, and this amount is then stated. Thus a single unit of each food in a food group provides a similar amount of nutrients as other units in that same group. The unit sizes of different foods are described in different ways, for example 1 slice of bread (starchy food), 1 apple (vegetables and fruit) or 1 cup of milk (milk group).
FOODS | UNIT |
Starchy foods |
Bread, brown / white | 1 slice |
Porridge, soft | ½ cup |
Maize meal, dry powder | 3 heaped tablespoons |
Potato | 1 medium |
Rice / pasta, cooked | ½ cup |
Samp / whole grains, cooked | ½ cup |
Breakfast cereal | Varies |
Cut corn / mealie | ½ cup |
Popcorn, popped, no salt or fat | 2 cups |
Vegetables and fruit |
Fresh / frozen vegetables | ½ cup cooked |
Raw leafy vegetables | 1 cup raw |
All fresh fruit | 1 piece meduim sized fruit apple, banana |
| 2 pieces meduim sized fruit apricots, plums |
| ½ piece large sized fruit grapefruit |
| ½ cup chopped fruit |
| ½ cup fruit juice |
| 2 tablespoons raisins |
Dry beans, split peas, lentils, soya |
Dry beans, cooked | ½ cup |
Lentils, split peas, cooked | ½ cup |
Soya mince, dry | 30g |
Fish, Chicken, lean meat, eggs |
Fish, white | 1 large piece |
Fish, high fat flesh | 1 small piece |
Chicken, no skin | 1 medium breast |
Meat, lean | size palm, slice 10mm |
Eggs, hens | 2 |
Liver, chicken | 3 |
Cheeses, yellow | cube of 30mm / 40g (match box size) |
Milk, maas, yoghurt |
Milk, low fat or skim | 1 cup |
Maas, low fat | 1 cup |
Yoghurt, low fat or fat free | 1 tub, 100ml |
Fat, oil |
Oil; sunflower, canola, olive oil or other plant oil | 1 teaspoon |
Tub margarine | 1 teaspoon |
Peanut butter | 1 heaped teaspoon |
Sugar |
Sugar; brown or white | 1 teaspoon |
Jam | 1 heaped teaspoon |