Understanding the New Food Pyramid

You may have grown up learning about the food pyramid.  The food pyramid is the dietary recommendations made by the United States Department of Agriculture.  The food pyramid helps people to more easily understand their nutritional needs.  The food pyramid has changed in order to accommodate the latest nutritional information.

The recommended daily allowance of each food group depends on your age gender and amount of physical activity. The most important thing to keep in mind about the food pyramid is to eat from the recommended food groups daily for a balanced and healthy diet.

Grains

Grains include any foods that are made using rice, wheat, oats, cornmeal or barley.  The most popular types of grains include cereal, bread and pasta.  There are two main types of grains – whole grains and refined grains.  Whole grains use the entire kernel while refined grains have been processed.  Whole grains contain much more fiber, vitamins and iron than refined grains do.  Refined grains often add vitamins and minerals back into the product during processing.   White bread and white rice are both types of refined grains.

Women typically should eat about 3 ounces of grains per day while men should eat about 4 ounces.  At least half of your daily intake of grains should come from whole grains.

Vegetables

Vegetables consist of cooked, raw, frozen, canned, dehydrated or juice.  There are 5 categories of vegetables including dark green, orange, dry beans and peas, starchy vegetables and other vegetables.  Daily intake of vegetables should include about 2 ½ cups for women and 3 cups for men. 

Fruits

Fruits may be raw, cooked or juiced or may be frozen or canned.  Keep in mind that fruits eaten in desserts such as pies include other ingredients that must be accounted for.  When choosing fruit juice the juice should be made of 100% fruit.  Women should eat about 1-½ cups per day while men should eat about 2 cups of fruits daily.

Milk

The milk category includes milk and milk products including cheese and yogurt as well as milk-based products.  Some common milk products include ice cream, pudding and frozen yogurt.  The recommended daily intake of milk products is about 3 cups for women or men.

Meat and Beans

The meat and beans category includes all types of meat, poultry and fish as well as dry beans, nuts and eggs.  Choose lean cuts of meat to avoid excess cholesterol.  Fish and nuts provide healthy oils that are necessary to the diet. Women should eat about 5 ounces of meat/beans daily while men should eat about 6 ounces.

Oils

The oil category includes oils such as vegetable oil.  Most oils are used in the cooking process while some come directly from eating foods such as fish, nuts, olives and avocados.  While the body needs some oils on a daily basis you should limit your oil intake to only polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats since these do not raise the cholesterol level.  Women should get about 5 teaspoons of oils daily while men should get about 6 teaspoons. 

Discretionary Calories

The food pyramid allows you to have some daily discretionary calories.  This lets you have some extra calories to eat what you choose.  The number of daily calories that you can use for discretionary purposes depends mainly on your daily caloric intake and your activity level.  In general most people can eat about 200 discretionary calories daily.