The Food Guide Pyramid A Guide to Daily Food Choices!
Dec 27, 2015
Food Pyramid – Background Introduced in 1992 by the USDA Goal was to help Americans use
the Dietary Guidelines to choose foods for a healthy diet. Nutritional Goals Usability Goals
Why a “Pyramid” Considered images like a plate, a
bowl and even a shopping cart. Image of pyramid conveyed
concepts of moderation, variety, proportion.
Most recognized nutritional symbol ever used.
Where did we go wrong? Misconceptions of
serving size USDA – food pyramid FDA – food labels Real Life
Where did we go wrong? Promotes “Fat is bad” attitude
Not all fats are created equal. Monounsaturated and
Polyunsaturated increases HDL or “good cholesterol”.
Saturated fats and trans-unsaturated fats increase LDL or “bad cholesterol”.
What’s a good fat? All kinds of nuts and seeds
Peanuts, walnuts, almonds, sunflower and pumpkin seeds.
Eat like a bird. Select lightly salted or unsalted. Avoid “honey roasted” and
“chocolate covered”. Fish Olive, canola, corn, sunflower,
vegetable oils
What’s a bad fat? Red meat Butter, Margarine,
Ice cream, Whole Milk Commercially baked foods
(hydrogenated oil) Fried Foods
“freedom” fries, Tim Horton timbits, battered fish fry
If “Fat is bad” then “Carbs are good”.
Only sometimes Whole grain – high fiber Proportion size If not used, converted and stored
as fat.
Pyramid hasn’t changed with advances in nutritional research.
Lots of discussion Revised and available sometime in 2005
“Dowdy old lady who never got a new wardrobe”