For many, January is balik-alindog season. 

Some dieters may be ditching their cups of rice and skipping meals, and just having merienda in their favorite street stall. But their snacks could still be dangerous for their waistlines, especially if they don’t watch their serving sizes.

The Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology has prepared a nutrition guide for some of the most common Pinoy street foods. 

It lays down the number of calories in a serving size, and how much of these consist of carbohydrates, protein, and fat.

As a comparison point, one cup or 160 grams of rice has 200 calories. 

Check out how your favorite street food measures up:

Table 1

	Fish balls	Squid balls	Kikiam
Serving size	10 pieces	4 pieces	5 pieces
Calorie count	146 calories	160 calories	93 calories
Carbohydrate	18.3 g	20 g	9.4 g
Protein	5.7 g	6.2 g	1.7 g
Fat	5.6 g	6.1 g	5.4 g

Table 2

	Betamax	Tenga ng baboy	Adidas
Serving size	3 pieces	3 pieces	2 pieces
Calorie count	23 calories	87 calories	57 calories
Carbohydrate	0.7 g	1.4 g	0.9 g
Protein	4 g	6 g	6.7 g
Fat	0.4 g	6.5 g	3 g

Table 3

	Isaw manok	Isaw baboy	Helmet
Serving size	1 stick	1 stick	3 pieces
Calorie count	31 calories	79 calories	66 calories
Carbohydrate	0.4 g	0.8 g	0.4 g
Protein	4.2 g	5.2 g	6.2 g
Fat	1.4 g	6.2 g	4.4 g

Table 4

	One-day-old chick	Balut	Banana cue
Serving size	2 pieces	1 piece	2 pieces
Calorie count	83 calories	112 calories	137 calories
Carbohydrate	0.4 g	1.4 g	28.4 g
Protein	8.9 g	8.3 g	1.5 g
Fat	5.1 g	8.1 g	2 g

Table 5

	Maruya	Turon
Serving size	1 piece	1 piece
Calorie count	251 calories	259 calories
Carbohydrate	50.5 g	48 g
Protein	3.2 g	2.4 g
Fat	4.1 g	6.4 g

Avoid drinking your calories 

The FNRI also recommends drinking eight glasses of water a day and choosing freshly prepared beverages over drinks with added sugars.

It also said that coffee and tea are low in calories, but adding sugar, cream and other ingredients could make these calorific drinks. 

Photo by Alessandra Sio on Unsplash