"The main nutrient that we get from staple foods is carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are needed by the body to produce energy, so staples should be included in each meal."
Staples are one of the six food groups we have in the Caribbean. These foods are usually affordable and readily available to the population. The main nutrient that we get from staple foods is carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are needed by the body to produce energy, so staples should be included in each meal. High fiber staples usually contribute to satiety and help reduce overeating. People also tend to overindulge in staple foods, so by adding a wide variety of foods from the different food groups you can balance your meals and reduce the likelihood of overeating.
Foods from the list of different staples below can be interchanged in a meal plan because it has been proven that each food listed contains roughly equal amounts of calories and carbohydrates.
It is recommended that for a meal, you should be having 3-4 servings of carbohydrates on your plate. Now in order to determine that, as shown in the list below, you would need to know what is a serving. But what is a serving of carbohydrates? This varies for each food within the group, the table below shows the accepted standard that we use here in the Caribbean.
Although this list is specific to the Caribbean, some foods may be familiar to you and so I encourage you to use the information as it is relevant to help with your meal planning. This list is comprised of the more popular carbohydrates that are consumed and do not represent ALL the available carbohydrates in the Caribbean.
Now, based on what we've said before we know that you need 3-5 servings of carbohydrates for a meal, which means if you were having bread in your meal, based on the table, you would need 3-5 slices of bread. If you choose to have cream crackers with your meal, you would need to consume 9-15 cream crackers, because a serving of cream crackers based on this list is 3 crackers.
So if you are having our national dish, Ackee and Saltfish with ground provisions as your 3-5 staples:
1 slice of yam,1 slice sweet potato, 2 pieces of breadfruit, 1 dumpling, and 1 piece of (ripe) plantain is sufficient for that meal. This is if we are consuming a maximum of 5 servings of the Staples recommended for a meal.
Now, this is how we will be expanding the information around all the six food groups with the goal to eventually teach you how to plan your meals correctly.
That is it for the Staples food group, feel free to comment or ask questions.
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