This question about serving sizes (especially for almonds) is probably one of the most frequently asked one that bring users to FitnessMantra and although this is answered in parts in the comments section of my Almonds post, I figured I would address it directly in this QnA post so it’s easier for people to find the answer.

QnA #2: What Is The Serving Size For Almonds, Walnuts And Other Nuts?

Typically, the serving size for nuts is 1 oz and you can’t go wrong if you restrict yourself to this amount for a variety of healthful nuts, chief among which are almonds and walnuts.

In the case of almonds, this amounts to about 20-25 medium sized almonds whereas for walnuts, the quantity closely matches the size of one whole walnut shell. I have featured these two “powerhouse” nuts earlier and if you review their individual posts again (links: almonds, walnuts), you will notice that a typical serving size of 1 oz of these nuts will provide you with around 160-180 high-quality calories with between 4 and 6 g of protein and a sizable amount of good-fats (mostly mono-unsaturated fats). In addition almonds are a superb source of the anti-oxidant Vitamin E, while walnuts pack on heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids and anti-oxidants like melatonin and ellagic acid.

Updated: NutNutrition has pictures of what an 1oz of nuts looks like for different varieties of nuts like almonds, walnuts, cashews and pistachios. Nothing like seeing it in pictures rather than words! (Disclosure: The NutNutrition site is sponsored by Planters Nuts so look out for Mr.Peanut!)

As always, when it comes to nuts the key is moderation: fats, whether good or not, are still fats – and fats are calorie-dense. Since you only know too well where excess calories go (between the last belt-buckle-hole and eternity!), do try to restrict yourself to about 1 oz and avoid the salted or oil-roasted variety which can really pack on sodium or additional unwanted calories.

Nuts should really form an essential part of your daily fitness-oriented diet – I can tell you it does in mine.

So just go nuts!

[tags]health, nutrition, serving size, almonds, walnuts, nuts[/tags]

I find it extremely informative (and sometimes really entertaining) to see what brings non-subscribing people to Fitness Mantra in this vast expanse of interlinked pages we call The Internet. Often it’s the “usual suspect” keywords like “starvation response” or “fiber one bars“. But sometimes it’ll be totally unrelated or distantly related searches like “fat babies” or even “simpson doughnut“!

In most of the cases – particularly where I have written specifically about the keyword that the user searched for – I am pretty certain the user found what he/she was looking for. But sometimes I find that the user stumbles on one of my posts by asking an actual question on a Search Engine which I have not directly answered. Maybe the post had some of the keywords used in the question, but not in the context intended and so the user might be disappointed with the results.

While I don’t think I can answer every single question that users ask on the web and land up on this site, I thought it might be useful to begin a series of Questions and Answers or “QnA” (a new category, now). These will feature questions I see in the site logs and which I believe may not have been adequately answered until now.

So, without further ado, here’s the first QnA …

What Is The Difference Between A Serving Size And A Portion Of Food?

The short answer is that a Serving Size is a convenient quantity of food that the manufacturer has chosen in order to describe the nutritional value of that food, whereas a Portion is the amount of that food that you choose to eat at one sitting. These may or may not be the same depending on what food you are consuming.

The best way to describe this difference is with an illustration using one of the most recognizable foods around: A 20 oz bottle of soda (Nutrition Information obtained from the Pepsi Product Info page):

I chose this product primarily because it’s a perfect example of Unit Bias, the tendency to assume that a reasonably sized package of food is the right amount to eat at a time. Take a look at the the Nutrition Label, and the difference between Serving Size and Portion will become clear.

The FDA regulates what a serving size for a particular food is and in the case of sodas, they have decided that it should be 8 fl oz. Note that your own requirements may vary depending on how old you are or what your specific calorific needs are. So, while the FDA thinks that 2.5 “regular”(2000-calorie-a-day) people can drink from this one bottle, that may or may not be the case for you. The quantity you choose to drink, then, becomes your portion. On a hot summer day, if you’ve been walking about for a long time, you might decide to drink an entire bottle; on the other hand if you are just relaxing at home in front of the television, you might choose to share the bottle with someone.

In other words, while portions may vary from person to person (or even from time to time for the same person!), serving sizes are constant and are simply an FDA-recommended quantity to consume or the manufacturer’s quantity used to display nutrition information.

The good news is that many manufacturers also list the calorific information for the entire package alongside the single-serving information (they are not always required to do this, but sometimes do so when there is the chance that buyers might consume the whole product at one sitting). You can see this in the “Per Container” section of the Nutrition label pictured above.

Always remember that you need to adjust the calories and other nutrition information depending on how much (i.e. how many servings) of the product you decide to consume. In the case of the Pepsi bottle, sticking to 8 fl oz will mean 100 calories and 28g of sugar. Think that’s too much sugar? If you finish the whole bottle, that’s 69g of sugar!

So, to conclude, just read the serving size and watch your portions. You’ll do just fine!

[tags]health, nutrition, serving size, portions[/tags]