Читать книгу Safe Food: What to eat and drink in pregnancy - Rosie Dodds - Страница 7

Imagine an empty plate. Mentally divide the plate into three.

One-third will be full of energy foods: the starchy carbohydrates – pasta, potatoes, rice, yam, bread or cereals. Another third will be packed with fruit and vegetables. Divide the remaining third of the plate into three unequal sections, one a lot smaller than the other two. One of these sections is for protein foods, needed for growth and repair of our bodies – meat, fish, nuts, cooked beans and so on. The other section is for dairy products: the milk-based foods, rich in calcium and other minerals – fresh milk, yoghurt, cheese. The tiny bit in the middle is for fatty and sugary foods.

Now put some food onto your plate. Fill one whole third with rice, potatoes or pasta. Pack another third with lightly cooked vegetables. Put a small portion of fish or lean meat in one of the remaining bigger bits. In the other, put a tub of plain yoghurt. In the tiny bit in the middle, put a teaspoonful of honey to mix into the yoghurt. Pour yourself a glass or two of water. There – a balanced meal!

What about breakfast? Fill one-third of your plate with tinned grapefruit segments. Fill the next third with 2–3 slices of wholemeal toast. If you want to (and it doesn’t matter if you don’t for one meal), add an egg or a slice of lean ham. Place a glass of semi-skimmed milk in one of the smaller sections, and a pat of butter for the toast in the tiny one in the middle. Another balanced meal.

A quick working lunch? Fill one-third of your plate with a large roll of wholemeal bread. Pack the next third with some well-washed salad leaves, a sliced tomato and a crisp, green apple. In the small protein section put a hard-boiled egg or some slices of tasty Cheddar. (Don’t worry about the milk section; the cheese has taken care of that one this time.) Spread the bread roll with a small knob of low-fat spread, and wash down your meal with a carton of unsweetened orange juice.