Serving Sizes and Diabetes

Watching your serving sizes can help you keep the complications of diabetes in check. A dietitian can advise you on how many servings from each food group you should eat per day. But how much is a "serving size?"

The amount of food that is counted as one serving is listed below. If you eat a larger portion, count it as more than one serving. For example, a dinner portion of rice using the chart below is 1/3 cup. The amount you eat may be 1 cup. This would count as three servings from the breads and starch group.

Serving Size Based on Food Groups

Fruits Serving Sizes

1/2 banana
1 small apple, orange, or pear
1/2 cup of chopped, cooked or canned fruit

Vegetables Serving Sizes

1 cup of raw leafy vegetables
1/2 cup of other vegetables; cooked, raw (chopped), or canned
1/2 cup of vegetable juice

Bread, Cereal, Rice, Starchy Vegetables, and Pasta Serving Sizes

1 slice of bread
1/2 English muffin, bun, small bagel, or pita bread
1 6-inch tortilla
4-6 crackers
2 rice cakes
1 ounce ready-to-eat cereal
1/2 cup cooked cereal, pasta, or bulgur
1/3 cup cooked rice
1 small potato or 1/2 large potato
1/2 cup sweet potatoes or yams
1/2 cup corn kernels or other starchy vegetables such as winter squash, peas, or lima beans

Nuts, Poultry, Fish, Eggs, Dry Beans, Cheese, and Meat Serving Sizes

2-3 ounces cooked lean beef, veal, pork, lamb, chicken, turkey, or fish
2-3 ounces low-fat natural cheese (such as Swiss, cheddar, Muenster, parmesan, mozzarella, and others)
1/2 cup of cooked dry beans
1/4 cup tofu (bean curd)
1 egg (or equivalent serving of egg substitute)
2 tablespoons of peanut butter
2 ounces of processed cheese (American)
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup canned tuna (packed in water)

Milk and Yogurt Serving Sizes

1 cup of low-fat milk
1 cup of low-fat yogurt (unsweetened or sweetened with aspartame or other artificial sweeteners)

Reviewed by Certified Diabetes Educators in the Department of Patient Education and Health Information and by physicians in the Department of Endocrinology at The Cleveland Clinic.