How To Eat Smart And Healthy

The Food Guide Pyramid

Learning about nutrition is simpler today than ever before. Back in the early 1990s, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), in cooperation with the Department of Health and Human Services, created a visual tool for teaching people about good nutrition. This tool is called the Food Guide Pyramid. It is used to help people of all ages plan and create healthy diets according to guidelines established from the Recommended Dietary Allowances and the Dietary Guidelines for us.

  • Eat Less fat and sugar
  • Milk Group or Meat Group 2 servings
  • Fruit Group 2 servings
  • Vegetable Group 3 servings
  • Grain Groups 6 servings

The Food Guide Pyramid divides food into five main food groups (starches, fruits, vegetables, dairy, and meats). A recommended number of servings from each group and appropriate portion sizes are provided to help people balance their food intake, choose a variety of foods, and consume all foods in moderation.

Balancing food choices means selecting foods from each of the different groups for various meals and snacks each day. Some foods may be higher in fat, sodium, sugars or calories, whereas others will be lower. For example, a balanced meal could include a hamburger patty on a bun with lettuce, tomato, and pickles, a tossed salad, and strawberry slices. Here you have balanced the "higher fat" hamburger patty from the meat group with the lower-fat vegetable and fruit choices.

Selecting a variety of foods means you should select different options from each of the food groups during the day in order to obtain a wide range of the different nutrients that can be found in each group. For example, all vegetables are great choices, but dark green vegetables provide different types of vitamins than orange ones. Choosing an orange food like baby carrot sticks at lunch and a green food like broccoli at dinner will ensure that you obtain the various types of vitamins.

Moderation means that you should watch your portion sizes. Any and all foods are allowed, but eating too much of a food is not a good idea. Even the healthiest of food choices, like milk, for example, can be unhealthy if consumed in too-large portions.

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The Bread/Starch Group

The Food Guide Pyramid is built on the premise that the bottom is larger in order to illustrate that we should eat more from this group than the others. The bread, cereal, rice, and pasta group (often called the grain, or starch, group) forms the basis of a healthy diet.

The range of servings from this group each day should be between six to eleven servings. Teenagers and more highly active adults may need nine to eleven servings due to their growth and activity needs, elderly and sedentary individuals may require only six servings each day. Foods from this group provide an excellent source of energy and offer many complex carbohydrates and fiber, and thus they should provide over 50 percent of a person's daily energy and caloric needs.

The Vegetable and Fruit Groups

The vegetable and fruit groups are evenly distributed as you move up the pyramid. Here, you will find a large number of food choices that provide important sources of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Three to four servings should be eaten daily from the vegetable group and two to four selections from the fruit group.

The Protein Groups (Dairy and Meats)

Dairy foods and the sources of meat products both are high in protein. These are also lined up together on the next tier of the pyramid. Dairy food choices supply protein as well as calcium and other important vitamins and minerals, including milk, cheese, yogurt, and cottage cheese. The meat group, also high in protein, iron, and other minerals, includes foods like beef, poultry, fish, dried beans and peas, nuts, and eggs. Recommended servings from the dairy group are two to three servings daily, while a total of 5 and 7 ounces are suggested from the meat group.

Fats and Sugars

The very top of the pyramid is reserved for the extra foods that do not fit into any other food group. These include fats, sugars, oils, and sweets, such as candy soft drinks, butter, margarine, cakes, cookies, and many convenience-type snack foods. These foods provide very little, if any, nutritional value and consumption should be limited. Often these foods are referred to as those "empty calorie" foods because they provide us with calories but few, if any, other nutrients.

Overall dietary recommendations established with the Food Guide Pyramid promotes a healthy diet, high in carbohydrates (particularly complex ones), and low in sugars and fats. Further information shared here will offer you insight on using the pyramid to the best of your abilities as an aide to maintaining your health and body weight. 

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