Food-Based Dietary Guidelines for the Arab Gulf Countries

Table 1

Food groups and suggested daily servings.

Food Group	Servings	Serving sizes
Cereals and their products	6–11	1 slice, 1/4 Arabic flat bread, 30 g cornflakes, 1/2 cup cooked cereals (rice, wheat oat, macaroni), 6 small crackers (use whole meal cereals).
Vegetables	3–5	1 cup raw leafy vegetables or cooked vegetables, 3/4 cup vegetable juice.
Fruit	2–4	1 medium piece of fruit (banana, apple, mango, pear), 1/2 cup fresh, frozen or canned fruit, 3/4 cup fruit juice.
Milk and dairy products	2-3	1 cup of milk, laban or yoghurt, 43 g of cheese, 1 tablespoon cream cheese (use low fat dairy product).
Meat, chicken, fish, eggs, legumes and nuts	2–4	50–80 g of meat, chicken or fish, one egg, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, 1/2 cup legumes, 1/3 cup nuts, 2 tablespoons of seeds.

Source: Arab Center for Nutrition [56].