The nutrition exchange system groups food into seven categories -- starches, fruits, vegetables, proteins, dairy, fats and sweets. In each category, a serving of one food can be "exchanged" for another because each serving has the same number of calories, fat, carbohydrates or protein. Exchanges can not be made from one category to another. For example: 1/2 cup of applesauce and a small banana each count as one fruit serving because they both have approximately 60 calories and 15 g of carbohydrates. A fruit exchange is 60 calories and contains no fat, no protein and no more than 15 g of carbohydrates. Once you know the nutritional information for each category, you will be able to determine a serving size for any food.
Step 1
Choose the correct category for your food. The starches include pasta, bread, cereal, potatoes and corn. Protein includes meat, eggs, cheese, meat substitutes, nut butters and tofu. Vegetables can be raw, cooked or juiced; so can fruits. Dairy includes milk and yogurt only, since cheese is a protein. Fats range from oil and butter to nuts and avocado. The sweets category is for the occasional treat and would include foods such as ice cream and cake. Some foods are combinations of two categories -- a 1/2 cup of beans is one protein and one starch exchange and high-fat cuts of meats and whole milk dairy may be a combination of protein or dairy and fat.
Step 2
Read the nutritional facts on packaged foods to find the calories, fat, protein and carbohydrates per serving. A fat exchange is 45 calories and 5 g of fat or less; a protein exchange is 7 g of protein and up to 145 calories and 13 g of fat; a serving of vegetables is 25 calories, 2 g of protein and 5 g of carbohydrates; a fruit serving is 60 calories and 15 g of carbohydrates; a dairy serving is up to 150 calories and 8 g of fat with 8 g of protein and 12 g of carbohydrates and a starch exchange is 80 calories, 15 g of carbohydrates, 3 g of protein and 1 g of fat. Sweets are 15 g of carbohydrates with varying amounts of calories and fat. You may need to combine sweets with fat or dairy exchanges, depending on what you're eating.
Step 3
Determine your calories needs. The amount of exchanges you'll need to eat in each category is based on your total calorie consumption. The standard 1,500 calorie diet would include these exchanges: Eight starches, five protein, three vegetable, three fruit, three dairy and two fat. Sweets should be used sparingly and can be substituted for a starch, dairy or fruit exchanges -- whichever is most appropriate.
Tips and Warnings
- Pay attention to the serving size -- if you eat multiple servings in a single sitting, it counts as multiple exchanges. Foods with less than 20 calories per serving are considered "free foods" and can be eaten sporadically throughout the day. Examples include mustard, relish, vinegar, lemon juice, spices, coffee, tea and sugar-free gum.
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