Food guide pyramid - balanced and healthy guide to food, nutrition and diet

Food guide pyramid is a general guide of what to eat each day because people must eat a variety of foods to get all the nutrients they need. The balanced and healthy food guide pyramid was reworked from long-standing, traditional basic four food groups, consisting of meat, dairy products, grains, and fruits and vegetables.

Each group provides some, but not all, of the nutrients a person needs, and foods in one group cannot replace those in another. No one food group is more important than another, so a person needs them all for good health. The food guide pyramid has as its base the grain group; on the second level are the fruit and vegetable groups; on the third level are the meat and dairy groups; and at the top is the fats, oils, and sweets group.

Grain Group
At the base of the food guide pyramid are breads, cereals, rice, pasta, and other foods made from grain. Human beings need more daily servings of these foods than any others because grain-based foods provide B vitamins, iron, carbohydrates, and some protein. Six or more daily servings are recommended. A serving, for example, is one slice of bread, one ounce (28 grams) of dry cereal, or one half cup of cooked pasta.

Fruit Group and Vegetable Group
The sources of most vitamins and minerals belong to these two groups. They also provide fiber, which contains no nutrients but aids in moving food through the digestive system. Three to five servings of vegetables and two to four servings of fruit should be eaten every day. One half cup of any fruit or vegetable counts as one serving.

Dairy Group and Meat Group
On this level of food guide pyramid are two groups of foods, such as milk, cheese, poultry, fish, and eggs, that come mostly from animals; notable exceptions are nuts and dried beans. These groups are quite high in protein, calcium, iron, phosphorus, the B vitamins, and zinc. Two to three servings from each group are recommended daily. Eight ounces (227 grams) of milk or 3 ounces (85 grams) of meat, for example, countas a serving.

Fats, Oils, and Sweets Group
The top of the food pyramid includes foods that may add pleasure to eating but provide only calories and little nutritional benefit to one's diet. These foods include salad dressings, cream, butter, margarine, sugars, soft drinks, and candies. They should be eaten only sparingly. The American Heart Association recommends that no more than 30 percent of one's daily calories be derived from fat.

Foods from the food guide pyramid may be part of any meal. A grilled cheese sandwich or a bowl of whole-grain cereal is just as nutritious in the morning as it is at noon. For instance, a good breakfast consists of any foods that supply about one fourth of the necessary nutrients for the day.

Fast foods and convenience foods are major parts of many people's diets. Convenience foods, such as TV dinners and cake mixes, are those prepared at home from foods already cooked or otherwise processed before reaching the retail store. A meal consisting of a cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, and onion, french fries, and a milk shake, though high in fat and sodium, does include foods from each of the groups in the food guide pyramid. So does a taco with its cereal shell, ground beef, shredded cheese, lettuce, olives, and tomato.

Frequent fast-food meals, though, require some thought about nutrients and calories. High in protein, iron, and B vitamins, fast-food meals are sometimes low in calcium and vitamins A and C and often extremely high in sodium. Depending on the items ordered, the calorie content of a typical fast-food meal ranges from 900 to 1,800. A burger with all the trimmings has about 600 calories, but a plain cheeseburger has only about half as many, and a plain hamburger even less. A serving of pizza can have from 300 to 600 or more calories.