What are food exchanges?
Food exchanges are food equivalents designed to facilities easy variation in diet. By learning the use of these food exchanges you can make the diet flexible and exciting to match your taste and needs. Food can be divided into major groups, which are called food exchanges. >>Cereals >>Meat, fish and pulses >>Milk and milk products >>Vegetables >>Fruits >>Oils, fats and nuts A single unit of exchange within the group has the same caloric value and therefore can be interchanged, e.g. in a cereal exchange, one medium chapatti is equivalent to one small Katori cooked rice or one idly (medium size) or one large slice of bread or half cup cooked dalia (porridge). So, if during lunch, you are permitted two chapattis, you can instead have six tablespoonfuls cooked rice or two iddlies or two slices of bread. Similarly, foods in the other exchange groups can be substituted for one another (Remember the exchanges can only be done within the same group only). In the next few pages the food exchang
