Essential Nutrients

One good pattern to follow in the selection of foods is given in Food for Fitness, A Daily Food Guide. This guide classifies foods into four basic groups: the milk group, the meat group, the meat group, the bread-cereal group, and the vegetable-fruit group. Foods chosen from each of these groups provide the essential nutrients for a good diet. Since each group offers a great variety of foods, it is easy to include in the daily meals family favorites, economy foods, and foods available only at certain times of the year. The foods that are grouped together have essentially the same nutrients but they vary in nutrient value per serving. Fruits and vegetables, for example, provide almost all of the daily requirement for vitamins A, C, and niacin but are quite low in calories. The citrus fruits and tomatoes are the main source of vitamin C. Breads and cereals, on the other hand, are high in calories and are therefore the main source of energy. The meat and dairy groups provide a very high percentage of the daily requirement for protein, calcium, iron, thiamin, and riboflavin. The milk group is the primary source of the daily calcium requirement. The homemaker should become familiar with the daily food guide and follow its recommendations for the number of servings from each food group to provided in the family meals each day.

Studies of buying and eating habits have shown that the milk and the vegetable-fruit groups must be carefully checked by the person responsible for family meal planning and preparation since these are the groups most often neglected in the diet of people living in the United States. Foods most often omitted are the dark leafy green and yellow vegetable and the fruits rich in vitamin C.

Milk can be provided in the diet n many ways. Many people never tire of drinking it plain. It can be served on cereals and used as the base of soups, sauces, and gravies and in making puddings, breads and cakes, and ice cream and cheese. Another way to increase the intake of milk is by the addition of dried skim milk to foods as they prepared. Children should have a daily allowance of from 3 to 4 cups of milk, teenagers should have 4 or more cups a day, and adults 2 or more. The expectant mother should have at least 4 cups a day, while the nursing mother needs and additional 2 cups.

Everyone should have four or more servings daily of fruits and vegetables, including potatoes. One of the fruits should be high in vitamin C. Many people get the necessary amount of this important vitamin in the fresh citrus juice or fruit served with breakfast. Melons and berries are good sources of vitamin C, are relatively inexpensive in season, and are usually well liked.

The dark green leafy vegetables and the yellow vegetables provide vitamin A, which is important in growth, tooth formation, vision, and resistance to disease. A cooked vegetable is usually apart of the main meal of the day and, with the wide variety of vegetables to choose from, meals need not be repetitious. Raw vegetables in salads or as finger foods and cooked vegetables in combinations or in stews all count toward the day’s quota of vitamin A.