Importance of ratios for staple food?

I'm wondering how important it is for the ratios to be 2:1 for the staple diet?

I'm not sure how much mine is. I've added everything I've wanted to add to their staple food (minus the red palm oil still working on finding that)

Can someone please help me here?

Thank you.

I don't want you to feel ignored, but can't be any help to you here. I'm a terrible example.

I'll admit it - I never calculate or balance anything. I get results in my house. I'll let you extrapolate for yourselves what that may or may not mean for our diet plans.

See I don't either. I get foods I know are good for them and then feed it.

But there are a LOT of people that place big significance on these ratios. I kinda of understand why but not really.

Thank you for your input Val. It does help and makes me not feel like such a monster for not calculating their ratios :)

Valorie, also, ratios should be for the whole diet, not just the staple. I feel like over time, mine balance out. BUT...I do not calculate them on a regular basis.

Shawna, I do realize that. I do the fruit relish and I tried the veggie one but they stopped eating that one. So now I am wondering about the staple.

I don't know about it over all either.

I was just making sure, you know how us "old" people are

LOL...Yes I know how you "old" people are. LOL

I use precalculated fruit/veggie recipes. Each recipe has equal amount of fruit to veggie, mine would pick out what they wanted if I didn't combine it. Everything is calculated because I'm a scaredy cat. I'm getting better though with throwing in things here and there. lol

My feelings are that it is not the separate ratios of the staple food and the fruits and vegetables but the OVERALL ratio of all foods you feed over several days time.

I spend months gathering data for my Diet Calculator for several reasons.

1) so I could calculate the nutrient content of the various recognized glider diets so I could compare them for my own knowledge
2) so I could see for my self how the fruits and vegetables I choose pair up with those diets and to determine the overall ratio for the full meal combinations

I feel that the over all diet should have an average ratio between 1.5:1 and 2:1 over several days feedings.

I use the calculator to prove to my self that I am meeting that goal by entering the amount for 7 days of the blended diet (2 tsp per day) then I select the fruits and vegetables I will use for those 7 days (in no particular order or combination) and enter those amounts into the calculator. If the overall result has a ratio between 1.5:1 and 2:1 - I feel they will get enough calcium for the week.

Making this even easier, I generally use the same fruits and vegetables over the span of a week over and over again week after week so I do not re-calculate.

In short, I do not worry about it on a day to day basis as many folks seem to do. I have tested the foods I offer on paper to satisfy myself that I am offering a good diet with adequate calcium for my gliders. When it comes to preparing their food each night, I just put it on their plates and serve. I sometimes go off the plan and make them a scrambled egg or share the ground turkey I cook for spaghetti sauce and I have no concern that one night of unchecked ratios is going to cause any harm.

Folks need to relax and enjoy their gliderkids. Feeding them does not need to have hard and fast rules as many people seem to think.

Ok Candy so is my thought process on this wrong?

I was thinking if the fruits equaled 2:1 and the veggies equaled 2:1 and the staple equaled 2:1 then it all equaled 2:1 correct?

If each of those equals 2:1 you are doing great. A little less than 2:1 is not terrible.

I think that animals (like small children) can self-regulate if offered a variety of nutritious whole foods. I would think that they would if they had the consistent opportunity.

whole= not processed foods

If your fruits, vegetables and staple diet each equal 2:1 you are probably close for the combination.

It would be better to add the amounts of calcium and phosphorus in each item you are feeding to get a total for calcium and a total for phosphorus then divide.

What everyone forgets is that a ratio is just that a ratio. It does not tell you what the calcium content is - only how it compares to the amount of phosphorus.

A food with 10 mg calcium and 5 mg phosphorus has a 2:1 ratio BUT so does a food with 100 mg calcium and 50 mg phosphorus.

Now for my standard ratio calculation example for folks that come across this thread and do not understand how to calculate ratios:

Please keep in mind that it is not just the ratio but the actual amounts of calcium & phosphorus in the foods you combine that you need to be concerned with.

Adding ratios may not give you a real combined ratio.

Examples using 1 TBS portions of 2 foods:

Green Beans .. 1:1 2.54 C : 2.61 P
Papaya ...... 4.8:1 2.10 C : 0.44 P

If you add Ratios only 4.8+1= 5.8/2 = 2.9:1

adding the C&P amounts(mg)
2.54+2.10 = 4.64 mg C
2.61+0.44 = 3.05 mg P
4.64/3.05 = 1.52:1

Parsley ..... 2.4:1 5.18 C : 2.18 P
Carrots...... 1.1:1 2.56 C : 1.24 P

Ratios only 2.4+1.1= 3.5/2 = 1.75:1

adding the C&P amounts (mg)
5.18+2.56 = 7.74
2.18+1.24 = 3.42
7.74/3.42 = 2.26:1


As you can see - adding ratios ONLY can give you either a high or low value compared to the ratio calculated properly by adding the calcium amount in mg and the phosphorus amounts in mg THEN DIVIDING the total calcium by the total phosphorus.

I guess I am a math and ratios failure. I just look up the food in the usda database, check the ratios, and generally feed a wide variety of nutrient rich foods w/a decent ca:p ratio overall.

With the calcium regulating functions of their little mammalian bodies, a fresh whole foods nutrient rich, primarily vegetable diet seems to work great for my gliders. They munch on little collard leaves and flowers from the garden for snacks.