Each food group (Grains, Milk, Fruit, Vegetables, and Meat &Beans) provides valuable nutrients that our bodies need in order tofunction properly and to help prevent disease. Our bodies are amazinglyintricate as they perform thousands and thousands of processes everyday. Those processes require nutrients, like vitamins and minerals,from each of the food groups. When we don't provide our bodies with theappropriate amount of nutrients, we suffer. Manyof our nation's top killers (e.g., heart disease, stroke, cancer, Type2 diabetes and obesity) have direct links to our diet.We don't have to follow what some would call a "health nut" diet inorder to decrease our risk for disease and maintain a healthy weight.All you need to do is simply make small, gradual changes in your eatinghabits. It's really not as hard as you may think. Also, if you strugglewith reaching and maintaining a healthy weight, keep in mind that: Whenyou begin to eat adequate amounts from each of the basic food groups,you'll have less room for some of the not-so-healthy foods that may becontributing to your weight. You’ll notice that the chart belowincludes the number of servings needed for each group daily and theserving sizes, but that’s not because I think you should be imprisonedby numbers and measurements. Rather, it’s just to give you a basic ideaof how much you need to meet your nutrient needs and to give you abaseline for your current diet. Food Group: GrainsServings Per Day: 5-8Serving Sizes: 1 slice whole wheat bread, 1 cup dry cereal, 1/2whole wheat bagel, 1/2 English muffin, small dinner roll or muffin, 1/2cup cooked cereal, 1/2 cup brown rice, 3 cups popcorn, 1/2 cup wholewheat pasta, 6 soda crackers, 3 graham cracker squares, 1 tortillaFood Group: MilkServings Per Day: 3Serving Sizes: 1 cup skim or 1% milk, 1 cup low-fat yogurt, 2 slices cheese, 1/3 cup shredded cheeseFood Group: FruitServings Per Day: 3-4Serving Sizes: 1/2 cup chopped fresh, 1/2 cup canned (light), smallpiece whole fresh, 1/2 cup berries, 1/2 grapefruit, 16 grapes, 1/4 cupdried, 1/2 cup 100% juice (4 oz.)Food Group: VegetablesServings Per Day: 4-6Serving Sizes: 1/2 cup cooked, 1/2 cup raw chopped, 6 baby carrots, 1 cup raw leafy, 1/2 cup juice (4 oz.)Food Group: Meat & BeansServings Per Day: 5-6 oz.Serving Sizes: 1 oz. lean meat, fish, or poultry, 1 oz. cheese, 1/4cup low-fat cottage cheese, 1/4 cup canned tuna or salmon, 1 egg or 1/4cup egg substitute, 1/2 oz. nuts or seeds, 1 Tbsp peanut butter