Explore the USDA Food Pyramid

The USDA Food Pyramid - Introduction

The United States Department of Agriculture created their Food Pyramid as a guideline to help us make healthy decisions for our diet. Compared to previous food pyramids, the current USDA Food Pyramid has been turned sideways and the food groups start from the left.

If you follow the guidelines of the USDA Food Pyramid, you should have a pretty healthy diet. However, there are two other food pyramids that I think are even better. These food pyramids are:

Healthy Eating Food Pyramid from the Harvard School of Public Health

University of Michigan Healing Foods Pyramid

These food pyramids differ slightly from the USDA Food Pyramid, and for very sound reasons. As we explore each step of the USDA Food Pyramid, I will explain how these other food pyramids differ and why.

Before we explore the USDA USDA Food Pyramid, it is important to understand how big a serving of any food is. The USDA Food Pyramid suggests different numbers of servings for every body. Many of us suffer from "portion distortion" and we eat way too much, so let's start with serving sizes and proper portions.

Portion Distortion

In order to eat a healthy diet, you need to understand how big a serving really is. For instance, this tasty looking hamburger club sandwich with a large side of fries looks like an average meal. However, there is enough ground beef to qualify as at least two servings, plus one serving of bacon. The lettuce and tomatoes are great, but the bread counts as three servings. One serving of potatoes should equal about one half a cup, so there are about four servings of a starchy vegetable there.

According to the USDA, one serving of meat is equal to two or three ounces, which is about the size of a deck of cards. The USDA Food Pyramid suggests two or three servings of meat per day. This meal would satisfy that requirement all alone. The potatoes, lettuce, and tomato would total about five servings of vegetables and the USDA Food Pyramid suggests a total of three to five per day. Again this meal covers all the servings of vegetables you should have for one day.

It is also important to note that a meal like this may have up to 1500 calories. Unless you are very active, that would be way too many calories for one meal.

A Meal with Better Portions

This meal is certainly smaller than the meal in the photo on the previous page. This sandwich has just one serving of meat. There is less bread with this roll, and there are three servings of healthy vegetables. The calorie count for this meal is probably closer to 500 calories, which is much easier to fit into most people's daily diet.

Determining Healthy Portion Size

According to the USDA Food Pyramid Guide:

A serving of meat is about two or three ounces, or about the size of a deck of cards. Serving sizes for other proteins would be two tablespoons of nut butters, two eggs, and one third cup of dry beans.

A serving of bread is equal to one slice of white or whole grain bread, one ounce of prepared cereal, or just one half cup of pasta, or rice.

A serving of is equal to one piece of fresh fruit, one half a cup of chopped fruit, or three-fourths cup of fruit juice.

A serving of dairy is equal to one cup of milk or one and one half ounces of cheese.

If you really can't picture these serving sizes, then you might wish to purchase a kitchen scale to help you.

Now that you know how big the servings are, let's look at the USDA Food Pyramid and compare it to the other pyramids.

The First Step of the USDA Food Pyramid - Bread, Cereal, Rice, and Pasta

The first step of the USDA Food Pyramid is bread, cereal, rice and pasta. The USDA suggests that we eat at least three serving of whole grains each day, although the total number of servings varies for all of us. Keep in mind that one serving in this group would be equal to one half cup of rice or pasta, or one slice of bread.

The Harvard Healthy Eating Pyramid

The foundation of this Food Pyramid is not even food, it is exercise. Exercise is important for weight control and health, so it really does make a solid foundation for healthy eating. Next on the base of the Healthy Eating Pyramid is whole grains and healthy plant oils. It is important to recognize that this Food Pyramids stresses whole grains only and places rice, white breads and pastas at the top of the pyramid to be used sparingly. This is because white breads and pastas act so much like sugar and have very little fiber. Another important difference is that the Healthy Eating Pyramid allows ample amounts of healthy vegetable oils, whereas the USDA Food Pyramid is definitely low fat.

The Michigan Healing Foods Pyramid

The base of this pyramid is water. We need water, and we can't be healthy without enough water. Also at the base of this pyramid are fruits and vegetables because they contain so many vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals that have healing properties.

The Next Step of the USDA Food Pyramid - Vegetables and Fruits

The USDA Food Pyramid suggests that we eat more green vegetables, more orange vegetables, and more dry beans and peas. For fruits we are to eat fresh, frozen or dried fruit and less juice. Fruits and vegetables are important for their vitamin and mineral content along with fiber and healthy phytochemicals.

The Harvard Healthy Eating Pyramid

The Healthy Eating Pyramid suggests two to four servings of fruits and even more servings of vegetables. The middle part of this pyramid also features nuts and legumes.

The Michigan Healing Foods Pyramid

The middle of the Healing Foods Pyramid include legumes, seasonings, and healthy fats. Legumes are known for healing fibers and lignans, several seasonings have healing properties, and healthy unsaturated and omega-3 fatty acids are needed for healthy nerves, hearts, and can be anti-inflammatory agents.

It is hard to argue with the importance of fruits and vegetables so it makes sense that they hold an important place in all the Food Pyramids.

The Next Step of the USDA Food Pyramid - Oils

The next step of the USDA Food Pyramid is a thin little sliver made up of oils. Oils are to come from fish, vegetable oils and nuts, and we are to limit solid fats like butter and margarine.

The Harvard Healthy Eating Pyramid

The Healthy Eating Pyramid has fish, poultry, and eggs at the next part of the Food Pyramid, followed by dairy products. The Healthy Eating Pyramid suggests less of all of these foods, when compared to the USDA Food Pyramid.

The Michigan Healing Foods Pyramid

The Healing Foods has eggs and dairy at this level and then suggests that fish, seafood and lean red meats are only needed weekly.

These two Food Pyramids suggest less consumption of red meats and less dairy than the USDA Food Pyramid. Although they are important sources of protein, studies show that the saturated fat in red meat is bad for our health. Another concern that I have with meats and dairy products is the use of antibiotics and hormones that are used for most of the animals that are the sources of these products. When you buy these foods, look for anti-biotic and hormone free, low fat products.

The Next Steps of the USDA Food Pyramid - Dairy and Proteins

The next step of the USDA Food Pyramid is made up of dairy products and then the protein group of lean meat, poultry, legumes, and fish. These foods are important for proteins which are needed for structural components of our bodies. Dairy products are also important as a source for calcium.

The Harvard Healthy Eating Pyramid

The top of the Healthy Eating Pyramid suggests that we eat red meat, sweets, starches, white breads and pastas all only sparingly. It also allows much larger portions of healthy vegetable oils like flax oil, olive oil, and walnut oil, plus the omega 3 fatty acids found in fish oil.

The Michigan Healing Foods Pyramid

The top of the Healing Pyramid allows us to indulge in healthy treats once per week. It includes chocolates, which have healing anti-oxidants, red wine which has resveratrol, and also suggests tea as a healthy beverage. I like this part of the pyramid.

It is important to know that white bread and pastas behave very much like sugar when we consume them. Almost all of our grain products should be whole grain products.

A Healthy Balanced Diet

Here some tips for a healthy balanced diet:

• Watch your portion and serving sizes.
• Eat whole grains and pastas, one serving is about one half cup.
• Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, this should take up most of the room on your plate.
• For your protein source, eat one serving of fish, lean meats, and legumes.
• Drink plenty of water.

Conclusion

The USDA Food Pyramid will help you have a fairly healthy diet. If you currently eat a junk food, fast food, over-processed diet, then it will definitely make you healthier. If your diet already resembles the USDA Food Pyramid, you should refine your diet and follow one of the other Food Pyramids for even better health.