To Your Health: Portion control key to healthy eating

Thanksgiving will kick off our holiday season this week, and we have a few joyous celebrations ahead that often include traditional and rich meals. It got me thinking about how to deliver a message about healthy holiday eating, and I remembered that it’s important to take account of not only what’s on your plate but also how much of it you’re eating.

Portion control is an unsung hero in a healthy diet. We talk so much about fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains and healthy fats that we sometimes forget to mention that we need to be judicious about our portions, even when we’re portioning nutritious, whole foods.

The National Institutes of Health defines a portion as the amount of food we choose to eat in a sitting, whereas a serving is defined as the amount of food listed on a product’s nutrition facts label.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has updated some food and beverage serving sizes to more closely approximate the amount of food we tend to eat and drink, but we should always keep in mind that a serving size is not a recommendation of how much we should eat and drink.

Each person’s recommended daily calorie intake can vary based on their age, height and weight, metabolism, gender and level of physical activity. Two people of the same weight can require different amounts of calories if one person engages in light exercise once a week and the other works out more frequently and vigorously.

The U.S. government issues a Dietary Guidelines for Americans report that can help you determine what your daily intake should be. The FDA’s nutrition facts labels can help us manage our portions by making it easier to count calories and helping us understand the quantity of protein, fat, carbohydrates and other nutrients in our food servings.

IF you want to keep a close eye on your portions and nutrient totals you can keep track of each meal, count your calories and note where you eat each meal and how hungry you are when you eat. If you want to manage your portions at home but you don’t have a need to take account of every calorie, you can avoid eating while distracted with other activities, use smaller vessels for eating and drinking, eat fewer foods high in fat and calories, eat meals at regular times rather than when hunger strikes and keep healthy snacks around like fresh fruit and other low-calorie options.

All of this information can be helpful in establishing healthy eating habits, but you can also listen to your body. When it’s time to eat, fill your plate with reasonable portions and eat slowly. Enjoy your food, savor the tastes and smells, and let your stomach tell you when it’s satisfied. If you’ve had a balanced meal and you’re no longer hungry, you may not need any more to eat.

Especially during upcoming holiday meals, don’t eat until you’re so full that you can’t get off the couch. Appreciate your bountiful tables and walk away from them after you’ve had a good meal.

Dr. Alfred Casale, a cardiothoracic surgeon, is chief medical officer for surgical services for Geisinger and chair of the Geisinger Heart and Vascular Institute. Readers may write to him via ae@timesleader.com.