Serving Sizes Made Simple: Aligning with the Universal Food Guide

The Universal Food Guide was made because although “national food guides are designed, ostensibly, to translate scientific evidence with respect to food, dietary patterns, and health, their development has increasingly become a corporate/political process as well as scientific one; often with corporate/political influences overriding science.”

They instead have tried to construct an “…unbiased, sustainable, evidence-informed Universal Food Guide to serve as a template for countries to develop their unique guides, thereby, provide a valid resource for health professionals, health authorities, and the public.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to wait 5 or 10 years for my country or health authorities to figure it out, or get it past the “strong corporate interest and influence” when the info is already available today!

If you’re already WFPB and SOS-Free then it might not seem all that groundbreaking to you, but the aim is to eat food that is “nutrient-dense with no cholesterol and no added fat or oil; and having low glycemic load; low fatty acid composition; high macronutrient composition and quality; high micronutrient density; being alkaline; having high potassium to sodium ratio; and high fiber content (legumes,
whole grains, vegetables and fruit).” and also to avoid “extra added sugars, saturated fat, or
sodium—or for alcoholic beverages”

See the full Universal Food Guide PDF here.

Simple Summary

The recommendations can be oversimplified to simply: eat 3 or more servings of legumes daily, 4 servings of fruit, 5 servings of vegetables, 3 servings of whole grains, a serving of nuts/seeds, and only drink water, green or hibiscus tea. You should also try to get 90 minutes of daily moderate exercise, or 40 minutes of vigorous exercise.

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So what exactly do they recommend, why, and what exactly is a “serving” anyway?

Legumes

Daily Servings: 3 servings.

Suggested Serving Size: 1–2 cups cooked beans/peas/lentils or ¼ cup of hummus.

Legumes, also known as peas, beans, lentils, and pulses.

They cite studies that have shown the ability to fight, protect against, or even reverse: diabetes, gastric cancer, digestive diseases, hypocholesterolemic, CVD, antioxidant activity, type 2 diabetes, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anticarcinogenic activity

Berries

Daily Servings: 1 serving.

Suggested Serving Size: ½ cup of fresh/frozen berries, or ¼ cup of dried berries.

According to some of the cited research, berries “have outstanding beneficial roles in many body systems of humans such as gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, immune, and nervous systems. Furthermore, they are effective on some metabolic disorders and several types of cancer.” As well as “cardiometabolic health and cognitive function.” Other studies found benefits diabetes as well.

They even say berries are one of the healthiest foods you can eat.

Fruit

Daily Servings: 3 servings.

Suggested Serving Size: 1 medium fruit or ¼ cup of dried fruit to fight all causes of mortality.

The cited studies say that “these potential health benefits include: protecting colonic gastrointestinal health (e.g., constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel diseases, and diverticular disease); promoting long-term weight management; reducing risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome; defending against colorectal and lung cancers; improving odds of successful aging; reducing the severity of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; enhancing psychological well-being and lowering the risk of depression; contributing to higher bone mineral density in children and adults; reducing risk of seborrheic dermatitis; and helping to attenuate autism spectrum disorder severity.”

Cruciferous Veggies

Daily Servings: 1 serving.

Suggested Serving Size: ½ cup chopped or 1 tablespoon worth of horseradish.

The Universal Food Guide mentions studies on colorectal cancer and cardiovascular diseases but see the Ingredients vs. NCD Lookup on Broccoli and Cabbage for more science-backed info on how they fight more diseases.

Leafy Green Veggies

Daily Servings: 2 servings.

Suggested Serving Size: 1 cup raw or ½ cup cooked.

Veggies

Daily Servings: 2 servings.

Suggested Serving Size: ½ cup of non-leafy vegetables.

Whole Grains

Daily Servings: 3 servings.

Suggested Serving Size: ½ cup of hot cereal or 1 slice of bread.

They mention many benefits of eating whole grains including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and more.

Flax Seeds

Daily Servings: 1 serving.

Suggested Serving Size: 1 tbsp ground Flaxseeds, daily.

The guide says that flax is “high in fiber, omega‑3 fatty acids, and phytochemicals called lignans; and also found in chia seeds and walnuts…”

This is on top of the other nuts & seeds daily serving—see below.

Nuts & Seeds

Daily Servings: 1 serving.

Suggested Serving Size: ¼ cup whole/chopped or 2 tbsp of nut/seed butter.

The guide mentions how nuts & seeds show cardiovascular disease prevention, fights/protects against cognitive function and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)

Beverages – Daily

Maximum Daily Servings: ~10 cups of tea, maximum, according to NutritionFacts.org

Suggested Serving Size: none given for water or tea but less than 1-2 alcoholic drinks/week; ideally zero alcohol since they found no safe amount.

They suggest green tea to prevent mental decline and slow brain aging, fighting oxidative stress, inflamation, and cancer cells, and hibiscus tea to help with blood pressure and other cardiometabolic markers.

The Universal Health Guide says that “no safe limit for alcohol consumption has been reported,” and that the 2023 Canadian alchol and health guidelines advise no more than “1–2 standard alcoholic drinks a week to avoid alcohol-related consequences…”

They suggest to drink:

• Water
• Green tea
• Hibiscus tea
• Avoid or ideally completely remove all alcohol

B12

Suggested Serving Size: 250mg cyanocobalamin B12 Daily, or 500mg-1,000mg daily from fortified foods.

The guide states that B12 is a “vitamin is produced by micro-organisms in soil and not by animals,” and to “consume foods that are fortified with vitamin B12, or to take a daily supplement.”

The studies they cite talk primarily of the cyanocobalamin form of B12, since it seems most studies have been done with this version of B12—as opposed to methylcobalamin or hydroxycobalamin forms of B12.

They also say that fortified nutritional yeast is a good choice, even though the supplements seemed to work more effectively overall. This study suggests 250 mg daily is used to counteract the low absorption rate of B12 in supplements.

The NutritionFacts.org website I used for reference in the mini-article, What to Eat Every Day, said 50mg daily, or 2,000mg every week (which is confusing because 2,000/week is about 250mg/day). The NHS has a table based on age and they say about 250mg/day for adults.

So instead, aim for 250mg/day, from cyanocobalamin, for maximum absorption from supplements.

From fortified food you’ll want to aim for higher daily values since less of it is absorbed through fortified foods. Aim for 500mg to 1,000mg daily to meet the requirements. This is anywhere from 1-6 tablespoons of nutritional yeast daily, you can find a conversion chart for popular brands here

Protein

Suggested Serving Size: daily 0.8 g of plant-based protein for every kilogram (~2.2 lbs) of body weight.

“Longevity experts concur that protein should be derived from plants to prevent excess activation of IGF1, a potent growth hormone similar to insulin…high animal protein intake has been positively
associated with premature mortality…whereas high plant protein intake is inversely associated with all-cause and cardiovascular and renal disease mortality, especially among older individuals with at least one lifestyle risk factor”

• Everybody: 0.8 grams/kilogram of weight
• Remove/avoid animal sources of protein

Vitamin D

Some of you might have noticed that vitamin D is missing from the Universal Food Guide. I’m not sure why this is but eating 1 cup of sunlight exposed will give you around 100% of the DV—look at the sub-article on Maximizing Mushrooms, but basically just put (button) mushrooms in the sun for 30-60 minutes.

The other ways to obtain Vitamin D are 15-30 minutes of mid-day sun according to NutritionFacts.org, and the PCRM if under 70 years of age, or a 2,000 IU daily supplement

• 15-30 minutes of midday sunlight daily or
• 1 cup UV/sunlight-exposed mushrooms daily or
• 2000 IU of vitamin D supplements daily

Herbs & Spices – Daily

A scoping review paper noted that there’s “evidence for the beneficial effect of culinary doses of many common herbs/spices” to help prevent and treat metabolic-syndrome associated disorders.

The Health Guide found that black pepper, chilli, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, fennel, fenugreek, garlic, ginger, nigella seed (black cumin), rosemary, sage and turmeric .

• Cinnamon, fenugreek and ginger were the herbs/spices with the most published trials on them and that showed promise for glycaemic control.
• Cardamom appears to have potential to reduce inflammatory markers
• Cinnamon, ginger and turmeric to reduce blood lipids. Curcumin/Turmeric is touted in many convincing peer-reviewed studies of clinical trials for being “protective or preventive” effecting cancers, diabetes, the liver, nervous system, cardiovascular systems, and even arthritis symptoms.
• Due to a lack of studies they found no relevant research for cloves, mint, oregano, parsley or thyme. That being said doesn’t mean they aren’t beneficial, just that not enough conclusive research exists to form conclusions.

Patients with type 2 diabetes were the population most likely to be included in studies they said and that “the preventative benefits of herbs/spices in healthy populations were also investigated, particularly for chilli, ginger, and cinnamon.”

Here are some tradional spice mixes for Substack subscribers.

Exercise

Suggested Amount of Daily Exercise:

• 90 min moderately intense (can talk but falteringly) or
• 40 min vigorously‑intense (unable to speak continuously)

What to Remove or Avoid Eating

Added Fats & Oils

The guide states that “when the effects of olive, soybean and palm oils intake are
compared, they exhibited comparable acute detrimental
effect over the endothelial function.”

Alcohol

Alcohol was already mentioned under beverages, but they say “given that no safe limit for alcohol consumption has been reported, the 2023 Canadian guidelines advise no more than 1–2 standard alcoholic drinks a week to avoid alcohol-related consequences to oneself or others.”

Animal Protein

Animal products and protein were mentioned under the protein category above.

Cholesterol

“The human liver makes all the cholesterol that is needed for growth and metabolism, thus no dietary cholesterol, predominant in animal-sourced foods, is needed in the human diet.”

Dairy

Similar to animal protein the IG-F as well as then “health risks and harms of saturated fat and cholesterol, and lactose intolerance.”

Fish & Seafood

The guide states that health concerns with seafood consumption are mostly due to “the toxic effects of
heavy metal bio-accumulation and bio-magnification,” since they eat or absorb poly-fluoroalkylated substances and several long-chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids. These forever chemicals are everywhere and I discuss some of the worst chemicals that are inside all of us, and even inside unborn babies, in Why You Should NOT Use non-stick.

More to come for this article, stay tuned…

If I’ve made any mistakes, or something doesn’t make sense, or if you want more/less details, please let me know in the comments.