Most of us think that the only way to control portions is to measure carefully with cups and measure Harvard dishwhich tells us how to organize the portions on the plate: 50% of the dish must have vegetables; 25% must be foods rich in complex carbohydrates; and the other 25%, proteins, especially those that come from legumes, fish or birds. But there are more ways to calculate rations without being aware all day of the scale or certain tools.
Our hands can become a simple, although less precise form, of calculating a portion. According to this investigationthe hands fit the scale of each individual and their body dimensions, that is, a larger person needs more food and tends to have larger hands, therefore, larger portions. Instead, smaller people need less food and tend to have smaller hands. How does this method work? Is it reliable?
How to use our hands to calculate rations
The premise is that, instead of trusting cups and measuring spoons or on a balance, we can compare a portion of something with the size of our hand or thumb to know what amount we have to add to our dish. To do this, we can divide the hand into four basic parts: the palm of the hand, the closed fist, the hollowed hand or the thumb.
There are several food guides from several countries that, in a didactic way, teach us to calculate the rations with our hands. The British Nutrition Foundation, in the Guide to calculate portions in a balanced wayIt offers recommendations to show people how foods can measure when making a dish using their hands to calculate the different portions. It is, they recognize, in a way not so accurate to calculate the size of the portions, but practical and useful so that we can get an idea of what a reasonable portion would be like.
Experts highlight the importance of adapting rations to each person, because the needs of a child as an adult is not the same. Thus, it recommends serving the children who are proportional to their size. It exemplifies it with rice or pasta, whose correct ration will be the one that fits in the two hands of the child.
Based on a caloric need of about 2,000 kilocalories per day, the guide gives orientative manual measures: two piddosted of pasta or rice would be equivalent to about 75 grams; A potato the size of our fist would be equivalent to about 220 grams; about three handfuls of breakfast cereals, about 40 grams; A breast of the size of our whole hand would be equivalent to about 120 grams; or approximately three small tablespoons of soft cheese would be equivalent to about 30 grams.
Of course, the ration will vary depending on the size of the hands and the person: the larger, the portions will be greater.
The European Food Information Council (EUFFIC) also details in a Infographic How can we estimate and calculate the portion of food using our hands, making some visual comparisons. For example, a ration of vegetables could be a medium -sized carrot or two handfuls of sliced broccoli, which would be equivalent to about 80 grams; A ration of meat is the one that would fit in the palm of the hand.
This other guide It offers more simple guidelines to calculate the size of a portion without measurement tools, simply using our hands. Approximately, it tells us that, for protein -rich foods, we can use a ration of hand size for women and two for men; For vegetables and fruits, a portion of the size of the hollowed hand (here the key would be in choosing vegetables of all the colors of the rainbow because each color provides a different variety of nutrients); For carbohydrate -rich foods, a portion of the size of the fist for women and two for men (if we want more than one carbohydrate we can reduce the size of each one, so that the total is the size of a fist); For fat -rich foods, a portion of the thumb size for women and two for men.
More proposals for manual measures that can help us to estimate the size of the portions are offered by this other investigationaccording to which the tip of the finger can be used for butter or oil portions and would be equivalent to those two foods; The tip of the thumb would be equivalent to a tablespoon of products such as mayonnaise or salad dressings; The palm of the hand can be used to calculate food portions that contain proteins such as fish, birds or pork; The fist, which would be equivalent to a cup, would be used to calculate portions of fresh fruits or vegetables; and the hollowed hand for rice or pasta portions.
This other guide It also teaches us how to use portions of the size of one hand. He tells us that we can use the palm of the hand to measure the portion of protein, such as lean meat; the fist to measure a portion of vegetables such as tomatoes or broccoli; The hollowed hand to measure carbohydrates in starch -rich vegetables, cereals or fruits; or the thumb size to estimate a healthy fat portion, such as avocado or nuts.
Our hands: approximate amounts, not necessary
Although studies like this They suggest that, although it is not perfect, one of the advantages of using the hands and fingers to calculate the rations is that easy and practical. It also gives us the estimates of the size of food portions, a manual and homemade shape that must be interpreted cautiously due to the considerable lag that exists in solid foods; Although in the case of liquids it would be a little more, especially when the width of a finger is used.
While portions of the size of one hand are comfortable to use, they may not provide precise reading because foods such as proteins contain other macronutrients, such as fats, which are not visible. Using the hands to calculate the size of food portions is not an exact science nor is it destined to be perfect, and although it is a method that is quite close to the use of homemade measures, the scientific evidence They do not support it. Therefore, if you need to consume exact amounts of certain foods, it is advisable to continue pulling scale.
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