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Why wait for nutrition month to start thinking about how to fuel your body? For optimal nutrition, we need an incredible amount of nutrients. But
most of us don’t go though the day thinking about how many micrograms of folate we’ve
consumed, or how many milligrams of iron were in our lunch. So how can we ensure that we’re
getting what we need?
Since we eat foods rather than nutrients, it’s best to rely on current food guides,
like The Food Guide Pyramid, published by the United States Department of Agriculture, to
help choose a healthy diet. The principle behind using a food guide is ensuring that dietary
needs are met through variety. For example, fruits are often rich in vitamins A and C,
while meat provides protein, iron, zinc, and B vitamins. By eating a variety of foods from
each of the food groups, we can meet our needs for all the required nutrients.
What Happened to the Basic Four?
If you’re over about 25 years of age, you were probably raised on the “Basic Four”—2
servings per day of milk and milk products, 2 servings of meat and meat alternates, 4
servings of fruits and vegetables and 4 servings of breads and cereals. This model did a
reasonable job of meeting nutrient needs, but provided only about 1200 Calories per day.
The implication was that once you’d covered the basics, it didn’t really matter
where the rest of your calories came from—chips, candy bars and pecan pie were all
fair game.
But optimal nutrition is about more than meeting requirements for vitamins and minerals.
Most nutrition-related diseases are caused by unbalanced diets—too much fat, for
example—and not by nutrient deficiencies. So a food guide should reflect the total
diet rather than just the basics found in the “Basic Four”. It should incorporate advice
on how to limit fats and added sugars too.
The Food Guide Pyramid
The new pyramid approach is intended to show the relative amounts to eat from each food group.
The pyramid’s broad base consists of breads, cereals, rice and pasta, for which the
largest number of servings are recommended. The top end of the pyramid consists of fats,
oils and sweets, that should be used in small amounts by most people.
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What You Need Every Day |
- nutrients
- energy
- carbohydrate
- protein (including 8 or 9 essential amino acids)
- fat (including 2 essential fatty acids)
- vitamins (4 fat-soluble and 9 water-soluble)
- minerals (at least 16)
- water
- other substances like dietary fiber.
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“Help!—It Looks Like WAY Too Much Food”
Those raised on the “Basic Four” often react to the Pyramid in this way. But when you take
a closer look at the servings and serving sizes (see below), it’s really not that much.
Also, there’s a range of servings for each food group. People who are bigger or more
active select more servings, while smaller, less-active individuals choose less.
What Is a Serving?
For each food group, the amount of food that counts as one serving has been specified.
It’s important to note that the amount you eat may be more than one serving. For
example, 1/2 cup of cooked pasta counts as one serving, so if you have a large portion of
pasta with 1 1/2–2 cups, that’s 3–4
servings.
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Food Group |
Servings/day |
Examples of 1 Serving |
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Grain Group |
6–11 |
- 1 slice bread
- 1/2 a pita, (small) bagel, bun or roll
- 1 oz ready-to-eat cereal (usually 1/2–1 cup)
- 1/2 cup cooked cereal, pasta or rice
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Vegetable Group |
3–5 |
- 1 cup raw leafy greens (lettuce, spinach)
- 1/2 cup other raw or cooked vegetable (carrots, potato, corn, broccoli, etc)
- 3/4 cup vegetable juice
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Fruit Group |
2–4 |
- 1 small-medium piece fresh fruit (apple, orange, banana)
- 1/2 cup chopped, cooked or canned fruit or berries (applesauce, blueberries,
canned peaches)
- 3/4 cup fruit juice
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Milk Group |
2–3 |
- 1 cup milk (including lattes!) or yogurt
- 1 1/2 oz hard cheese (cheddar, swiss, edam)
- 2 oz processed cheese
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Meat Group |
2–3 |
- 2-3 oz cooked lean meat, fish or poultry
- For alternates, 1 oz meat = 1/2 cup cooked dry beans OR 1 egg OR 2 Tablespoons
peanut butter OR 1/3 cup nuts. (so two of the above would equal 1 serving)
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Example of Daily Intake that Meets the Pyramid |
This shows how easily you can meet the Pyramid. And the menu provides less than 1400
Calories, so most adults would need to eat more.
Breakfast: (Servings: 2 Grain, 1 Fruit, 0.5 Milk)
- 1 cup hot cereal
- 1 sliced banana
- 1/2 cup skim milk
Snack: (Servings: 1 Milk)
Lunch: (Servings: 2 Grain, 2 Fruit, 0.5 Milk, 1 Meat)
- Smoked turkey (2 oz) and cheese (1 oz) sandwich on whole-wheat kaiser
- 1/2 cup baby carrots
- 12 oz (1.5 cups) juice
Dinner: (Servings: 2 Grain, 2 Veg, 1 Fruit, 1 Meat)
- 1 cup pasta with tomato/meat sauce (1/2 cup tomatoes, 2 oz lean meat)
- 1/2 cup cooked broccoli
- Small tossed salad
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