Friday, March 29, 2024

Keep your eyes on the size

MSU experts recommend students eat what they want, as long as they consume in moderation

March 27, 2013
	<p><strong>Pangea dinner at Brody Square</strong><br />
Pho Bo soup: 17-ounce bowl, 695 calories<br />
Fish of the day: 1 ounce, 0 calories (unknown)<br />
Steamed Michigan broccoli: 3 ounces, 23 calories<br />
Parmesan roasted potatoes: 2.25 ounces, 122 calories<br />
Sunny asparagus tapenade: 3 ounces, 62 calories<br />
<em>Shrimp stir fry bar: 6 ounces, 111 calories</em><br />
<em>Sweet and sour sauce: 1 cup, 195 calories</em></p>

Pangea dinner at Brody Square
Pho Bo soup: 17-ounce bowl, 695 calories
Fish of the day: 1 ounce, 0 calories (unknown)
Steamed Michigan broccoli: 3 ounces, 23 calories
Parmesan roasted potatoes: 2.25 ounces, 122 calories
Sunny asparagus tapenade: 3 ounces, 62 calories
Shrimp stir fry bar: 6 ounces, 111 calories
Sweet and sour sauce: 1 cup, 195 calories

Photo by Danyelle Morrow | The State News

Eric Batten, certified executive chef for the Gallery at Snyder-Phillips halls, said the meals offered are meant to complement each other, eliminating the need to add other options. He said an entree salad usually is popular and a full meal in itself.

Keilen said students in dining halls are given a portion of food, but it might be more than a serving. She said it’s important for students to keep in mind the serving sizes they already know, such as a domino for an ounce cheese, when eating in the dining halls.

All nutritional information for residence hall meals is available online at MSU Culinary Service’s Eat at State website. Diet specifics can be organized by age, gender, dining hall and can eliminate allergies and food preferences.

Rather than thinking pizza is unhealthy, and salads are the only nutritious options in the dining halls, many meal options in the halls experts say are a healthy choice for students. Students looking to eat healthy on campus should have no problem, according to MSU experts and Culinary Services.

Gina Keilen, culinary coordinator and dietitian for MSU Culinary Services, said the diverse food options and build your own choices allow students to choose how healthy or unhealthy to eat.

“Everyone has different nutritional needs,” Keilen said. “We like to supplement and try to give things that will complement each other, and (that) doesn’t mean you can’t pop to another venue.”

Keilen said there is no one dining hall which offers more food options than others, and all the neighborhoods contain the same foods, just broken up in to different dining halls.

Ronda Bokram, Student Health Services staff nutritionist in the Health Education Department, said she advises against looking up nutritional information online. Instead, students should eat how much they feel they need to consume.

“The other thing to keep in mind is not how you eat every day, but how you eat over time,” Bokram said. “People should worry less about what they eat, and then they will be more able to eat a wide variety of foods.”

Bokram said the amount of calories one person should eat changes each day and depends on the person’s gender, age, size whether they are nutritionally eating what they need and sometimes ethnicity and genetics might have a role.

“(It’s) not important to focus on a number,” Bokram said.“We know then we are hungry, we have that ability (to) know.”

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