The Food Guide Pyramid was developed by the USDA in 1992 to guide Americans' food choices and portions. It recommends eating 6-11 servings of grains, 2-4 of fruits, 3-5 of vegetables, and 2-4 of proteins daily. Critics argue it does not distinguish between foods sufficiently and may have contributed to obesity by permitting overeating. However, others note fast food consumption and lack of exercise have likely played a larger role. While several countries now use different food pyramids, the overall goal remains choosing a variety of healthy options.

1. The Science Behind Health
With Doctor Bones (Don R. Mueller, Ph.D.)
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2. Foods Glorious Foods!
The Food Guide Pyramid - (A good place to start)
The Food Guide Pyramid,
was developed by the
United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA) in
1992. In recent years, it has
been taking a bum rap.
The Food Guide Pyramid is
not a strict regimen, but is
merely a guide for what to
eat each day with the
relative portions, hence the
name Food Guide Pyramid.

3. Problems with the Food Pyramid?
Critics claim that the food pyramid doesn't distinguish between
items within a group. For example, what is the difference between
beans and meat in the protein group or cookies and bread in the
grains group?
Others contend that the food pyramid has seduced the public into
believing that only fat calories will make them fat. They also
propose that acceptance of the food pyramid by the public has led
to the boom in obesity because in their view the recommendations
set forth by the food pyramid are a "permit to overeat."
It's no wonder that the food pyramid fails in the eyes of various
special interest groups, especially those advocating low-
carbohydrate and/or high-protein diets.
A "new" food pyramid arrived in 2005 and in 2011 the food
pyramid has been replaced with USDA’s new “MyPlate” program.

4. America's Unbalanced Food Pyramid
It is more reasonable to suggest that America's obsession with fast
food and packaged meals, which generally contain too many
calories and the fact that so many Americans fail to exercise on a
regular basis have spawned the obesity problem. Too many
Americans have been following an "unbalanced" food pyramid.
Critics claim that the food pyramid
has led to the recent steep rise in
obesity in America. This is a bit of a
stretch because it remains unclear if
the advice offered by the food guide
pyramid has actually been widely
accepted by the public.

5. A World of Food Guide Pyramids
Since the advent of the Food Guide Pyramid a number of food
pyramids have sprung to life, including those in the following list:
African, Asian, Healthy Eating, Latin American, Mediterranean,
Vegan and the Vegetarian Food Pyramid.
The debate continues over which food pyramid is better. Some
people swear by the Mediterranean Food Pyramid while others
claim that the Healthy Eating Food Pyramid is the way to go. The
fact is that all of the various food pyramids serve a useful purpose
in helping people plan healthy, well-balanced meals.
The best advice you can take from any one of the various Food
Pyramids is to eat a variety of foods. No single food gives you all of
the nutrients you need and therefore variety is the key.

6. The Food Guide Pyramid features foods from five
major food groups. Although each group contributes many of the
nutrients we need it is the sum of these groups, which provides
us with all of the nutrients that we require for balanced nutrition.
Bread, Cereal, Rice & Pasta
Fruits
Vegetables
Proteins: Meat, Poultry, Fish, Beans, Eggs & Nuts
Dairy: Milk, Cheese, Yogurt and Ice Cream
Fats, Oils and Sweets

7. Let's examine each of the Food Groups:
Bread, Cereal, Rice & Pasta Group
Foods from this group provide complex
carbohydrates, an important energy source.
Many of the foods from this group are also
good sources of dietary fiber.
What counts as a serving?
• 1 slice of bread
• 1 ounce of ready-to-eat cereal
• 1/2 cup cooked cereal, rice or pasta
The Food Pyramid
suggests 6 to 11
servings from this
group each day.

8. It's easier to eat 6-11 servings from the bread, cereal, pasta, rice
group than you might think. For example, if you start your day
with a small bowl of cereal and a slice of toast for breakfast you
have just eaten two servings from this group.
A sandwich at lunch equals two servings, since each slice of bread
is one serving. Thus far you have had four servings. A mid-day
snack, like a small bagel, is another serving.
At dinner, if you have two servings of pasta or rice (each one-half
cup equals one serving) you are already up to seven servings. Its
likely that you will have more than two servings at dinner, let's say
four servings, which puts you at nine servings.
If for dessert you have another serving from this group you are at
ten servings. So as you can clearly see it all adds up.

9. Fruit Group:
Fruits are high in energy, vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and
fiber. With so many varieties to choose from how can you say no
to fruit? Try fresh fruits over frozen, dried and canned.
The Food Pyramid suggests 2 to 4
servings of fruits per day.
Serving sizes from this group?
• Whole fruit: a medium apple,
banana, or orange
• 1/2 cup of chopped, cooked, or
canned fruit
• 3/4 cup of 100% fruit juice

10. Vegetable Group:
Vegetables are an excellent source of energy, vitamins, minerals,
phytochemicals and fiber. With so many wonderful vegetables to
choose from, you can’t go wrong! Try fresh vegetables over frozen
and canned. Canned vegetables generally have added salt and
most of us can probably do without the extra salt. Whole
vegetables generally have more fiber than vegetable juices.
The Food Pyramid suggests 3 to 5
servings of vegetables each day.
Serving sizes from this group?
• 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables
• 1/2 cup of non-leafy, cooked or
chopped raw vegetables
• 1 medium-sized potato,
3/4 cup of vegetable juice

11. Protein Group: Meat, Poultry, Fish,
Dry Beans, Eggs and Nuts
The Food Guide Pyramid suggests 2 to 4 servings from this group.
What counts as a serving?
• Lean meat, poultry, fish, cooked (3 oz.)
• Ground beef, lean, cooked (3 oz.)
• One Egg (1 oz.), Dry beans and peas, cooked, 1/2 cup (1 oz.)
• Peanut butter, 2 tablespoons (1 oz.), Nuts, 1/3 cup
Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.
Humans use about 20 different amino acids in
constructing the various proteins we need.

12. Dairy Group: Milk, Cheese, Yogurt and Ice Cream
The Food Guide Pyramid suggests 2 to 3 servings of milk, yogurt,
and cheese per day.
What counts as a serving?
● 1 cup of milk or yogurt ● 1-1/2 ounces of natural cheese
● 2 ounces of processed cheese
● 1/2 cup cottage cheese ● 1/2 cup of ice cream or ice milk
Dairy products are a delicious way to get
protein and bone-building calcium into
your diet.

13. Fats, Oils and Sweets
Fats and oils hold an important place in a healthy diet. For example,
we must obtain certain essential fatty acids through our diet.
However, we do not need to take in excess fats and oils in order to
obtain these essential fatty acids.
Fats and oils are the body's most concentrated form of energy,
providing 9 kilocalories (kcal) of energy/gram of fat (oil). More than
twice the energy/gram provided by carbohydrates and proteins.
One pound of fat contains about 3500 kcal of energy. It is easy to
see how losing fat can be quite a struggle.
Located at the top of the Food Pyramid,
reminds us to use these items sparingly.

14. Nutritious Diets have:
1) Adequacy - provide all essential
nutrients in sufficient amounts.
2) Balance - provide foods that don't
overemphasize one nutrient over
that of another.
3) Calorie control - a diet high in
nutrition, yet moderate in calories.
4) Moderation - not eating excessive
amounts of any one food.
5) Variety - "Variety is the spice of
life." Healthy need not be dull.