The New Complete Book of Food

xi The New Complete Book of Food

Cholesterol

A food that provides less than 20 milligrams of cholesterol per serving is low in cho-

lesterol. A food that provides 20 to 150 milligrams per serving is moderate. A food that

provides more than 150 milligrams per serving is high.

Carbohydrates

A food that derives less than 20 percent of its calories from carbohydrates—sugars,

starch, and dietary fiber—is low in carbohydrates. A food that derives 20 to 60 percent

of its calories from carbohydrates is moderate. A food that derives more than 60 percent

of its calories from carbohydrates is high.

Dietary fiber

A food with less than 1 gram fiber per serving is low in fiber. A food with one to two

grams fiber per serving is moderate in fiber. A food with two to five grams fiber per

serving is high. A food with more than five grams fiber per serving is very high. NOTE:

Except where noted, a serving of fiber is one-half cup.

Sodium

A food with less than 50 milligrams sodium per serving is low in sodium. A food with

50 to 125 milligrams sodium per serving is moderate. A food with more than 125 mil-

ligrams sodium per serving is high.

About the nutrients in this food is a more detailed nutritional guide. What kinds of fiber does

the food contain? Are its fats primarily saturated fatty acids or unsaturated ones? Does it have

high quality proteins, with sufficient amounts of all the essential amino acids, or are its pro-

teins “limited,” with insufficient amounts of one or more essential amino acids? Does the food

contain antinutrients, such as the avidin in raw egg white that inactivates the nutrient biotin?

Does it contain naturally occurring toxins such as solanine, the nerve poison in the green parts

of potatoes or tomatoes? You’ll find the answers to this kind of question here. By the way, you

will often see the term “RDA” in any discussion of vitamins minerals, and other nutrients.

The letters stand for recommended dietary allowance, the amount of the nutrient the National

Research Council believes sufficient to prevent the onset of deficiency diseases (such as the

vitamin C deficiency disease scurvy) in healthy people. IU, another nutritional abbreviation,

stands for international units, a term used to describe quantities of vitamins A and D.

Unless otherwise noted, the RDAs (recommended dietary allowances) and AIs (ade-

quate intakes) listed in this section are for healthy adults, men and women ages 19 to 50. The

amounts of the nutrients and the percentages of the RDAs are rounded to one decimal place.

That is, an amount of a nutrient or a percentage of the RDA that equals 0.45 or 1.45 will be

shown, respectively, as 0.5 or 1.5.

The following two charts give you the RDAs and AIs for several important vitamins

and minerals.