Granola: Smaller Portions Please!

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Granola can be a fibre-rich treat or calorie-bomb, depending on the ingredients used and the portion consumed.
Granola's basic ingredients are oats, sweetener (sugar, honey, artificial sweetener etc.), added oil or fat and wheat/rice flakes.
Optional Add-ins include: dried fruit, nuts, shredded coconut, chocolate chips. chia seeds, flaxseeds etc.

Nevertheless, the suggested serving of granola is 1/4 cup or roughly 1 oz (28 g). Due to portion distortion, the average person consumes around 1 cup or more of granola per sitting. Whether this is good or bad, depends on the other components in the diet and physical activity pattern.
Persons who  have a sedentary lifestyle and consume granola by the bowlful at least twice in the day may want to consider downsizing their portions.

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Nutrition Breakdown:
➲ 1/4 cup (28 g) granola with nuts contains:
137 kcals
7 g fat
15g carbs (3 g fibre, 6 g sugars)
4 g protein

➲ 1 cup (122 g)  granola with nuts contains:
567 kcals
29 g fat
65 g carbs (11g fibre, 24 g sugars)
18 g protein

Downsizing your Portion: 
How to stick to 1 serving of granola per sitting:
① Add a handful to plain yoghurt or cottage cheese
② Add a handful to a fruit salad (for added texture)
③ Add a handful to your favourite green salad; as a replacement for croutons
④ Add a tablespoon to regular pancake batter while it is cooking
⑤ Add a handful to some plain popcorn
⑥ Add a tablespoon to porridge (e.g. cream of wheat; barley; oat bran)

Downsizing your granola portion with food examples
(NOTE:All images are credited in blue)

Take a look at  what a 30 g serving and 100 g portion of granola looks like:

Image Credit: Fooducate                   Ant-and-Anise

♪ Happy Eating! ♬

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