Nutrition guidelines

The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend eating a variety of nutritious foods from the following five food groups every day, to maintain your health and wellbeing.

1. Dairy

Each day you need 2.5 serves of reduced-fat dairy (3 for teenagers or breastfeeding mums and 4 for women over 50). What's a serve?

• 1 cup (250ml) skim, no-fat or low-fat dairy or soy milk

• ½ cup (125ml) low-fat evaporated milk

• ¾ cup (200g) low-fat natural yoghurt

• 2 slices (40g) reduced-fat hard cheese

• ½ cup (120g) low-fat or reduced-fat ricotta or cottage cheese

2. Fruit

Each day you need 2 serves of fruit. What's a serve?

• 2 small pieces of fruit (such as plums, apricots, mandarins or kiwifruit)

• 1 medium-sized piece of fruit (such as an apple, banana, orange or pear)

• 1 small bunch of grapes

• 1 cup chopped fresh fruit salad

• 1 cup canned fruit (no added sugar)

3. Vegetables

Each day you need at least 5 serves of vegetables. What's a serve?

• ½ cup cooked vegetables

• 1 small (or half a medium) potato

• 1 cup raw salad vegetables

• ½ cup (85g) cooked dried or canned beans or lentils

4. Cereals & grains

Each day you need 3-6 serves of cereals/grains (preferably wholegrains). What's a serve?

• 1 slice (40g) wholemeal or wholegrain bread

• ½ medium (40g) wholemeal or wholegrain bread roll

• ½ cup (75–120g) cooked rice, pasta, noodles, barley, quinoa or polenta

• ½ cup (120g) cooked porridge

• ⅔ cup (30g) wheat cereal flakes

• 2 (30g) wheat-flake or oat-flake breakfast biscuits

• ¼ cup (30g) natural (untoasted) muesli

5. Lean protein

Each day you need 2-3 serves of lean protein. What's a serve?

• 65g cooked lean beef, lamb, veal or pork (90–100g raw)

• 80g cooked lean poultry (100g raw)

• 100g cooked fish fillet (115g raw)

• 2 large eggs

• 170g tofu

• 30g nuts, seeds or peanut/ almond butter

• 1 cup cooked legumes (such as lentils, chickpeas or cannellini beans)

Stay hydrated

Drink 6-8 non-alcoholic drinks a day (water is ideal) as it helps you stay hydrated and can also help you feel full.

If you drink alcohol, try to stick to no more than 2 standard alcoholic drinks a day and aim for at least two alcohol-free days a week.