Food Pyramid

The Food Pyramid - Healthy Breakfast - What Our Body Needs

The Food Pyramid

For the last sixty years or so, nutritional guidelines issued by various governments have evolved from the proverbial apple-a-day to the food wheel and have now arrived at various versions of the Food Pyramid.

Food pyramids organize food groups graphically. The food groups are:

Grains

Vegetables

Fruits

Dairy products

Oils

Traditionally, the higher up the food group in the pyramid the lower the share of that group should be in your daily calorie consumption.

The most recent version of the food pyramid changed the presentation of the way food groups should be present in your diet. Each colour represents a food group. (You'll find a link to the food pyramid at the end of this article.)

The most striking, and most welcome innovation in this pyramid is not this reorganization of the food groups. The Food Groups

Let's have a look at the individual food groups now.

Grains are the largest individual group.

Water

One big omission from this food pyramid is water. Water is vital. How much water do you drink? The current food pyramid is certainly progress when compared to any of its predecessors. For my money, though, I'd follow the approach taken by another food pyramid any time:

The California Cuisine Pyramid

The California Cuisine Pyramid is at the cutting edge of nutritional science. Its approach broadens the scope of our traditional food pyramid. It is not a food-only pyramid. Taste is at the top of the pyramid, because it is the most important element in encouraging food intake. Recommendation for protein now includes soy protein, beans and legumes with rice or corn (for plant-based protein) or non-fat dairy products, egg white, poultry, fish/seafood, lean meats (for animal protein). Soy protein is a nutritionally complete protein with great health benefits. Soy protein isolate, an easily absorbable form of soy protein, was given approval for a cholesterol-lowering food claim by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States. It is recommended as a protein balance for meat derived protein in the diet. The California Cuisine Pyramid also extends the recommended 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day to 5 to 11 servings with a predominance of vegetables over fruit. I don't like taking pills, I get all my nutrients from food."

Getting the right nutrition is no longer easy.

World Health Organisation's Flawed Eating Recommendations.

Our family's diet when I was a child, was mostly based on this food pyramid. For a while I was blinded by the fact that some big 'nutritional' companies also endorse this food pyramid. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the World Health Organisation's Countrywide Noncommunicable Disease Intervention Program (CINDI) each designed a food pyramid. The reason for these pyramids is to give recommendations on how to eat 'healthy'.

I wonder why obesity got out of hand since these food pyramids were published in 1992? I don't think so, because these food pyramids limit fats and oils in their recommendations.

It is true that we need everything that is listed on their food pyramids, but they got the balance all wrong.

Dr. Light's version placed fruit and vegetables at the base of the pyramid. The USDA placed it right at the base of the pyramid, making it an daily essential!

Later in Gen 9:2-3 God gave fish, birds and animals as food too.

Fruit and vegetables should be at the base of your pyramid. Eat plenty of it. Every time food gets processed, it loses nutritional value, which means that the nutrition-calorie ratio gets out of hand.

Next I recommend protein. Most people don't get enough protein in. Refined foods are simple carbs and unprocessed food is complex carbs. Lastly is junk food. That is not only the fast foods from the street, but also all kinds of snack food. In my opinion it doesn't classify as food. You can eat these foods, and I certainly eat it myself. Remember water. The 2005 version of the USDA food pyramid added exercise. To eat healthy, forget about the established food pyramids, it's designed to make people sick and fat.

The main meal was a cooked meal with protein, vegetables and some starch. The original food pyramid was first printed in 1992 to replace one of the oldest systems of food classification. Although the newer food pyramid is taking into account a lot more in terms of exactly what foods you should be eating it still has quite a bit of way to go till it is anyway perfect.

People are eating rubbish food and not getting enough exercise. The food-pyramid is a basic synopsis of the daily intakes of all the different food types that you should be having. The new food pyramid also includes sections on the amount of exercise you should be taking.

For instance, the new food-pyramid tells you that you should have about 30 minutes a day of between moderate and vigorous exercise. It explains the difference between moderate exercise and vigorous exercise. You can also see food pyramids for children, food pyramids for vegetarians, even cultural food pyramids for different types of diet, for instance Chinese food pyramid.