Alternate Food Pyramids

Last time we talked about the USDA Food Pyramid. For most people, that is THE Food Pyramid - the only one they know about.

What you may not realize is that many doctors and nutritionists disagree with the USDA Food Pyramid, and have published alternatives.

For example, the famous Mayo Clinic has a Vegetarian Diet Pyramid. Being a healthy vegetarian isn't as simple as just eliminating meat from your diet. You have to make sure that you get enough of the proper nutrients. Some of the nutrients that they may lack include: protein, calcium, vitamin B-12, iron and zinc. The Mayo Clinic pyramid can help vegetarians plan a healthy diet.

Another alternative is the Harvard School of Public Health Healthy Eating Pyramid. They claim the USDA food pyramid is flawed, based on out-dated science, and overly influenced by people in the food industry who have a vested interest in seeing their products included.

The foundation of the Harvard School pyramid is daily exercise, and weight and portion control, since these things strongly influence your chances of staying healthy. The Healthy Eating Pyramid builds on those, recommending that you should eat more foods from the bottom part of the pyramid (vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats) and less from the top (red meat, refined grains, sugar and salt). Calcium is important, but milk is certainly not the only source. And since we don't always eat as well as we should, take a multivitamin daily as nutritional "insurance."

Other alternatives include the Asian and Mediterranean Food Pyramids, and a pyramid specifically for elderly people that includes vitamin & mineral supplements and extra liquid to prevent dehydration.

It's important to understand is that everyone is different, and what works for one person may not work for another. But there are a few key things that everyone needs to stay healthy: exercise, weight control, getting enough of the important nutrients, eating more healthy foods (fruits and vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats) and limiting the amount of less healthy and unhealthy foods (sweets, salty snacks, saturated fats, refined grains, etc.) There are now many different food pyramids available - do some research and pick the pyramid that's right for YOU.

The New USDA Food Pyramid

Most of us grew up with the old government food pyramid, with bread, pasta and other carbs on the bottom, and fats up on top. It was "one-size-fits-all."

But the USDA replaced it with the MyPyramid system in 2005. The new food pyramid includes exercise and has a more individualized approach to health and nutrition, depending on your age, gender and activity level. That makes sense, since everyone's needs are different. But it also makes things a bit more complicated. And the whole idea of using a food pyramid is to make it easier for you to remember the food groups and what you should be eating.

The new USDA food pyramid groups are:

• Grains - including bread, pasta, crackers, oats, and rice. Preferably whole grains. Have a total of at least 3 ounces per day.


• Vegetables - including all the vegetables or 100% vegetable juices. They are divided into sub-groups: dark green (e.g. broccoli), orange (e.g. carrots), dried peas and beans, and others. Focus on the dark green and orange categories.


• Fruits - including all fruits and 100% pure fruit juices. We get most of our vitamin C from fruits.


• Milk - including most dairy products (milk, yogurt, and cheese) but not butter and cream. Dairy is a major source of calcium. Low fat or fat free varieties are better.


• Meat and Beans - including fish, chicken, eggs, and nuts, as well as meats and protein rich beans. Use lean meats, and low-fat methods for cooking.


• Oils - these are fats that are liquid at room temperature. Some fats are good fats, and needed for good health, but watch out for excess calories.


• Physical Activity - Get half an hour of moderate exercise or physical activity daily. Choose something you enjoy: running, swimming, walking, biking, even gardening.

I recommend you spend a few minutes exploring the MyPramid.gov web site. There is a lot of valuable and useful information. But recently, other groups and organizations have published their own versions of the food pyramid, some with significant differences. More on that next time.

Welcome

This blog is for you. There is so much health news out there, and so much of it seems change from day to day. You know how it goes: not too long ago, we were told that all fat was bad, now we know that some kinds of fats are good, and necessary for your health.

I follow diet and nutrition news on a regular basis and I'd like to help you make sense of it. I have a masters degree in biochemical engineering (I studied how limiting nutrients affects bacterial growth) and a deep interest in how diet affects our health. But I am not a doctor so here is the necessary disclaimer: This blog is for your personal information only. I do not provide medical advice. Please consult your physician or health care provider before beginning any diet or exercise program, or changing your diet or medication.

Now that we have taken care of that, on to more interesting things.