Do you ever wonder what happened to the Food Guide Pyramid?

The Food Guide Pyramid was created more than ten years ago by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Pyramid illustrated what the USDA said were the elements of a healthy diet. The Pyramid was taught in schools, appeared in the media and brochures, on cereal boxes and food labels. It seemed like the absolute final word on what we should really eat.

The Food Guide Pyramid is now like a fairytale. It did not point the way toward healthy eating. We are told now the Food Guide Pyramid was based on shaky scientific evidence. It still has not changed over the years to reflect major advances in our understanding of the connection between diet and good health.

Recently, the USDA retired the old Food Guide Pyramid and replaced it with MyPyramid, a new symbol and “interactive food guidance system. This revision is basically the old Pyramid turned on its side.

Good news about the new MyPyramid:

• It tears apart and buries the flawed Pyramid.

Bad news about the MyPyramid:

• The new MyPyramid does not give us enough information to help us make informed choices about our diet and long-term health.

• It continues to recommend foods that are not essential to good health.

• The food quantities recommended may even be detrimental to our overall health.

So…..what do we eat to become and stay healthy?

According to a new dietary guideline released early in January of 2005:

• We are to continue to concentrate on controlling weight;

• Fats were once considered bad. The new guidelines emphasize low intake of Trans fats and to limit our saturated fats. There is not an artificially low cap on fat intake. The latest advice recommends getting between 20% and 35% of daily calories from fats. The new guidelines also recognize the potential health benefits of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats;

• Complex carbohydrates was a term used in the past that has little biological meaning;

• The new guidelines advise Americans to limit sugar intake and stress the benefits of whole grains;

• The guidelines suggest eating half of our grains as refined starch, although refined starches behave like sugar, add empty calories, have adverse metabolic effects, and increase the risks of diabetes and heart disease.

• The guidelines lump together red meat, poultry, fish, beans and soy products and tell us to judge these protein sources by their total fat content. This means to make choices that are lean, low-fat, or fat-free. This advice ignores the evidence that these foods have different types of fats. It also leaves out evidence that replacing red meat with a combination of fish, poultry, beans, and nuts offers numerous health benefits.

So…..if we follow this new dietary guideline we still may not be eating “right,” according to the Harvard School of Public Health. The Harvard School of Public Health nutrition experts created the “Healthy Eating Pyramid.” It is based on the best available scientific evidence about the links between diet and health.

The Healthy Eating Pyramid is based upon daily exercise and weight control. Evidence proves daily exercise and weight control influences your chances of staying healthy. They also stress what and how you eat and how your food affects you.

Some highlights of the Healthy Eating Pyramid are outlined below:

• Whole grain foods (at most meals).

• Plant oils: Good sources of unsaturated fats include olive, canola, soy, corn, sunflower, peanut, and other vegetable oils and fatty fish such as salmon.

• Vegetables (in abundance) and Fruits (2 to 3 times per day).

• Fish, poultry, and eggs (0 to 2 times per day). Eggs which have been a long time noted as being “bad for you” because they contain fairly high levels of cholesterol, aren’t as bad as once thought to be. An egg for breakfast is much healthier than a bagel made from refined flour.

• Nuts and Legumes (1 to 3 times) are excellent sources of protein and contain healthy fats.

• Dairy or Calcium Supplement (1 to 2 times) Dairy products have been American’s main source of calcium. Cheese has also been another popular choice for calcium needs. Try to stick with no-fat or low-fat products. If you don’t like dairy products, calcium supplements are the way to go.

• Red meat and butter (use sparingly): If you eat red meat every day, switch to fish or chicken several times a week to improve cholesterol levels. Switching from butter to olive oil will also improve cholesterol levels.

• White rice, white bread, potatoes, white pasta, soda, and sweets (use sparingly): This group of foods can cause fast and furious increases in blood sugar that can lead to weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic disorders.

• Multiple vitamins: Taking a daily multivitamin, multimineral supplement offers a nutritional backup. They do not replace healthy eating or make up for unhealthy eating. A standard, store-brand, RDA-level is fine. Look for one that meets the requirements of the U.S. Pharmacopeia, an organization that sets standards for drugs and supplements.

• Alcohol (in moderation): Many studies suggest that having an alcoholic drink a day lowers the risk of heart disease. For men: 1 to 2 drinks a day. For women: One drink a day.

The Healthy Eating Pyramid certainly summarizes the information I personally have been reading recently as the best dietary information available to us. It is not something set into stone because nutrition researchers will continue to turn up new information in the years ahead. The Healthy Eating Pyramid will change to reflect the new evidence.

The Healthy Eating Pyramid is not the only up-to-date guide for eating healthy. It does take advantage of more extensive research and offers a broader guide that is not based on a specific culture, such as the Asian, Latin, Mediterranean and vegetarian pyramids.

To sum it all up the number one tip for eating for improving your health would be eat foods that have a lot of vitamins and minerals as well as foods that are not high in fat. Exercise moderately.

More Healthy Tips:

• Find the strong points and weak points in your current diet and improve in those areas where you are weak.

• Make small, slow changes.

• Keep track of your food intake by writing down what you eat and drink every day. Use this record to help you see where you need to improve.

• If you have medical problems talk it over with your doctor or a nutritionist before making any significant changes.

• Good nutrition does not come in a pill. Get your doctor’s recommendations on vitamins and mineral supplements. Your body will benefit the most from eating healthy foods.

• Eat a variety of foods, and learn to try new foods.

• Prepare your meat either by baking, grilling or broiling rather than frying. Take the skin off chicken before eating. Eat fish at least once a week.

• Cut back on extra fat like butter, margarine, sour cream and salad dressings.

• Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables with your meals and snacks.

• Drink no- or low-calorie beverages like water, unsweetened tea and diet soda.

• Exercise moderately daily.

Balanced nutrition and regular exercise are good for your health if your weight never changes. Don’t be discouraged because you don’t loose weight after months of regular exercise. The regular exercise offers you a multitude of benefits toward keeping you healthy.

A healthy eating pyramid is a nutrition guide developed by the Harvard school of public health. The pyramid suggests a manner of eating where ideal proportions of each food category to be taken per day are outlined. The healthy eating pyramid recommends the eating plant oils such olive oil, soybean oil and corn oil as well as the eating of vegetables in the abundance intervals of three or more times a day. The pyramid also entails 13 servings of nuts and legumes with a 1-2 servings of dairy or calcium supplement. In the pyramid there are also recommendations of the 1-2 serving of poultry and the encouragement of a sparing use of meat and butter and refined foods like white rice, white bread potatoes, pasta and sweets.

The dynamics that characterise the relationship between health and diet for the children abound. Studies have shown that in fact children in the entirety of the socio-economic levels are all susceptible to the dangers of poor nutrition for one reason or another.  The factors that characterise the link between poor diet and disease range form the fact that some children do not receive enough of each day’s food supplies to the fact that most of the children are left ungoverned on the aspect of their feeding and food purchase lifestyles and resultantly children remain malnourished. Hellmich N. (1992) adds “Many other children receive enough food supplies but they eat food stuffs which are too high in sugar, fat  and other components such as sodium which make them prone to the dangers of overweight and obesity and other chronic diseases”.

In addition to the foregoing it is worth mentioning that as the number of working parents continues to grow more and more children are left with the responsibility of feeding themselves on their shoulders and this must be expected to expose children to health dangers related to diet owing to the fact that food purchasing and eating habits of children are hardly rational. The other dimensions that have been up for keen consideration enlist the premise that there is an intricate link between children’s diet and their ability to learn. “The relationship has been realized for long enough now through anecdotal exhibit and even more recently through the evaluations of the outcomes of controlled research studies.” This has come as the reason for the further importance and reinforcement of nutritional education particularly for the children.

The thrust of nutrition education has been revolutionized to take a grass roots resemblance with some nutritional education being given to women in prenatal periods. This has been charcterised by the emphasis of way in which low weight gain during pregnancy may result in the increase of low birth weight dangers (pegged at less than 5.5 pounds) of the new born baby. This is particularly important in the consideration of the reality that low birth weight babies are more susceptible to hearing, sight and learning defects that often necessitate the solicitation or more special education services. The special Supplement Food Program for Women, Infants and children (WIC) offers food and counseling as well as nutritional education to pregnant women. The program has also extended its services to the lactating women in low-income classifications.

Children are the future of our country! Being an indispensable part of our lives, they ought to be fed with the correct amount of nutrients in proper proportions. They need to be nurtured with many things to enable them to keep up with their hectic schedule and participate in extra activities. There is no need to run through the market and bring your kids nourishing cereal, for healthy eating guide is there to your rescue. In order to give them the requisite amount of energy, this guide helps you in all aspects of nutrition.

The healthy eating pyramid is referred to a nutrition guide improvised by the Harvard School of Public Health advising on amount of nutrients a regular food must contain and consumed each day. It intends to provide a great eating guide for people belonging to all age groups. It assists you in your day to day life providing information regarding the essential nutrients a child must consume to keep up with his/her daily activities. The main motive of creating such a guide is to keep up with the science and competition of the food industry spotlighting on encouragement of whole grains over sugars, controlling weight, distinguishing between good/bad fats, etc.

Healthy Eating Pyramid basically aims at providing the most recent dietary health. It clearly distinguishes between refined grains and whole grains, between unsaturated and saturated fats and focuses on weight combat and exercise. It provides the knowledge of exact amount of calorie intake depending upon a person’s sex, age and lifestyle.

The staff at Harvard Healthy Eating Pyramid focuses on plant oils, fish/eggs/poultry, whole grain foods, fruits/vegetables, dairy/calcium supplement, meat coupled with slight attention on soda/sweets/rice/bread, moderate alcohol and multiple vitamins. It also involves concentration on both diet and exercise for overall development in a healthy environment. It is basically a chart available for an economical cost.

Here are a few tips to start following this chart in an effective manner. First, one must start with regular exercise to stay fit and keep a check on calories. Secondly, food must be preferred over grains. Thirdly, junk food, red meant, potatoes, sugary must be avoided to a great extent and focus must be shifted to vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Fourthly, a plant based diet is a must to stay healthy. Last but not the least, a multivitamin initiates your body metabolism and helps you stay in shape. Moderate drinking can also be considered.

In today’s world, where competition is brewing every second and the rat race is growing each day, requirement of a balanced diet is a must. For children, who are now becoming an addict to junk food and television or play stations, physical exercise with a balanced diet with nutrients in proper proportions is a necessity. The Healthy Eating Pyramid helps the home makers keep up with the right proportions of nutrition for their children in order to make them healthy.

After all, a healthy kid outshines in a society. So go grab a copy of this chart as soon as possible!