The Food Pyramid
The
Food Pyramid
from U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department
of Health
Click on
the picture to see an enlarged, easy to read version.
This diagram
is designed to show what proportion of different food groups
should be included in a healthy diet. Before reading on,
it would probably be a good idea to first click on the picture
above to look at the large version with all the text clearly
readable.
Right at the
top of the pyramid are the fats and sugars. These should
be used very sparingly. The average western diet has far
too much of both leading to an epidemic of obesity
and type
2 diabetes. The foods in this group include:
- salad dressings
- oils, cream, butter, margarine
- sugars
- soft drinks
- candies
- sweet desserts
Generally, these foods provide
'empty' calories, that is they have no nutritional value
as they contain no vitamins, minerals or other useful nutrients.
On the next level down comes
the foods providing protein, calcium, iron and zinc. They
include milk, yoghurt and cheese on one side and poultry,
eggs, fish and beans on the other.
Below that comes fruit and
vegetables. Most nutritionists and dieticians recommend
that we should all eat at least five portions of fruit and
vegetables a day as they are a valuable source of vitamins
and micro nutrients as well as fibre.
Finally, holding up the pyramid,
there are carbohydrates and these include bread, rice, pasta
and cereals. You will notice that it is recommended that
you eat 6 to 11 servings of these a day. You may want to
reject this advice because you think that carbohydrates
make you fat. Not true! It's what you put with carbs that
lead to weight gain. Fry the potatoes or mash them and smother
them with butter, whole milk or cream and you are adding
an enormous number of calories and fat to them. Also, carbs
in the form of baked foods made with white flour also are
very calorific because they usually have a high proportion
of fats, especially trans
fats, sugar and salt making them a poor choice nutritionally.
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Copyright © 2003
Carol Fisher. All Rights Reserved.
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