“Moderation” seems to be becoming a very commonly used word in modern lifestyle. 

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Be it an advice on spending money, sleeping hours, or your eating habits, many of these things are demanded to be done in moderation. However, when it comes to moderation of food items, each of our individual bodies seems to be having unique capacities for food items. For people who do regular exercise, food items which are having high amounts of fats and sugars can be consumed in slightly more quantities as compared to those who are not as much physically active. 

Not to mention other medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and heart disease or your genetic and hereditary factors. Not just being limited to your daily habits, moderation also plays a role for preventing diseases. Following even the “best weight loss programs” would require you to moderate what you eat.

So, how do we deal with this dilemma of ‘moderation’ in food quantities? As reported in the Journal of Nutritional Science, a study from the University of Sydney, your ‘hands’ can be instrumental in helping you out in finding your unique moderation.

Other than having unique fingerprints, your hand will soon represent you more uniquely, mostly for giving clues about the quantity of food you can have or should have. The length and width of the fingers, which vary for each individual, could be used to measure the dimensions of the amount of food you are having.

This seems logical in a way as the taller or broader a person is, the taller his/her fingers would be and the quantity of food demanded by the person is also slightly greater than the average amount.

Using your hand as a measures for this type of moderation in your food items can benefit you in the long run. Moreover, you would never develop a habit of over-eating or under-eating while maintaining a healthy balance in your appetite. Other than just deciding what suits you best, your hands can also go along with the measurements suggested by the packaging labels of the food items.

According to the report, this technique of using hands was found to be more precise as compared to the visualizing of common household measures such as cups or ounces mentioned in food packaging.

While, it will need some time for cases and research to be conducted for a relatively complete set of food items, here is a list of moderation of food items you can start with.

• Your Fist = 1 cup of vegetables, grains, or fruits such as a cup full of peas, corn, rice, pasta, or cereal
• Thumb tip (from the joint) = 1 teaspoon of peanut butter, salad dressing, or olive oil.
• Flat palm = 85 grams or 3 ounces of chicken, fish, or meat. Larger palms represent about 113 to 140 grams or 3-4 ounces.
• Whole thumb = 1 ounce or 28 grams, such as that of cheese.

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