An understanding of the food exchange is required to make your diet as varied and diverse as it would be in the case of a diet of a normal person without diabetes.

Foods have been classified into different groups. Food items which contain similar amounts of carbohydrates, fats and proteins are placed in each of these groups and therefore, calories. Therefore, each food item in a particular group can be exchanged, or substituted, with one another. 

Servings ( sizes and quantities) of each food item in a group is determined such that they provide the standard amount of these three nutrients (and consequently, calories) which have been defined for each food group.

The thought of weighing and measuring foods can be uncomfortable. Within a few days you will get a very good visual grasp of the quantities and not have to bother about the precise weights and volumes.

Below are some Tips and Tricks regarding Food Portions Measurements which can be used to avoid the hassles of measuring.

1 teaspoon (5ml)
About the size of the top half of your thumb
25 gm of flour (atta) is approximate what can be held in an average Indian woman’s palm

1 ounce (28 g)
approximately a inch cube of cheese
volume of four stacked dice
slice of cheese is about the size of a 3 1/ 2 inch computer disk
chunk of cheese is about as thick as 2 dominoes
1 handful (palm) of nuts

2 ounces (57g)
1 small chicken leg or thigh
1 /2 cup of cottage cheese or tuna

3 ounces (85 g)
serving of meat is about the size of a deck of playing cards (3 exchanges)
1 /2 of whole chicken breast
1 medium pork chop
1 small hamburger
unbreaded fish fillet

1 /2 cup (118 ml)
fruit or vegetables can fit in the palm of your hand
about the volume of a tennis ball

1 cup (236 ml) about the size of a woman's fist
breakfast cereal goes halfway up the side of a standard cereal bowl
broccoli is about the size of a light bulb

1 medium apple = A tennis ball