Healthy eating pyramid
Encyclopedia
The healthy eating pyramid is a nutrition
guide developed by the Harvard School of Public Health
, suggesting how much of each food category one should eat each day. The healthy eating pyramid is intended to provide a better eating guide than the widespread food guide pyramid
created by the USDA
.
The new pyramid aims to include the most current research in dietary health not present in the USDA's 1992 guide. The original USDA pyramid has been criticized for not differentiating between refined grains
and whole grain
s, between saturated fat
s and unsaturated fat
s, and for not putting enough emphasis on exercise and weight control. It also had been developed by the Department of Agriculture, not the Department of Health and Human Services, so has been alleged to be influenced by lobbyists working for the agriculture, meat and dairy industries. This accusation is somewhat substantiated by the often larger portions
in USDA recommendations relative to World Health Organization
and NHS
recommendations.
Nutrition
Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
guide developed by the Harvard School of Public Health
Harvard School of Public Health
The Harvard School of Public Health is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University, located in the Longwood Area of the Boston, Massachusetts neighborhood of Mission Hill, which is next to Harvard Medical School. HSPH is considered a significant school focusing on health in the...
, suggesting how much of each food category one should eat each day. The healthy eating pyramid is intended to provide a better eating guide than the widespread food guide pyramid
Food guide pyramid
A food guide pyramid is a triangular or pyramid-shaped nutrition guide divided into sections to show the recommended intake for each food group. The first food pyramid was published in Sweden in 1974. The most widely known food pyramid was introduced by the United States Department of Agriculture...
created by the USDA
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
.
The new pyramid aims to include the most current research in dietary health not present in the USDA's 1992 guide. The original USDA pyramid has been criticized for not differentiating between refined grains
Refined grains
Refined grains, in contrast to whole grains, refers to grain products consisting of grains or grain flours that have been significantly modified from their natural composition. The modification process generally involves the mechanical removal of bran and germ, either through grinding or selective...
and whole grain
Whole grain
Whole grains are cereal grains that contain cereal germ, endosperm, and bran, in contrast to refined grains, which retain only the endosperm. Whole grains can generally be sprouted while refined grains generally will not sprout. Whole-meal products are made by grinding whole grains in order to make...
s, between saturated fat
Saturated fat
Saturated fat is fat that consists of triglycerides containing only saturated fatty acids. Saturated fatty acids have no double bonds between the individual carbon atoms of the fatty acid chain. That is, the chain of carbon atoms is fully "saturated" with hydrogen atoms...
s and unsaturated fat
Unsaturated fat
An unsaturated fat is a fat or fatty acid in which there is at least one double bond within the fatty acid chain. A fat molecule is monounsaturated if it contains one double bond, and polyunsaturated if it contains more than one double bond. Where double bonds are formed, hydrogen atoms are...
s, and for not putting enough emphasis on exercise and weight control. It also had been developed by the Department of Agriculture, not the Department of Health and Human Services, so has been alleged to be influenced by lobbyists working for the agriculture, meat and dairy industries. This accusation is somewhat substantiated by the often larger portions
5 A Day
5 A Day is the name of a number of programs in countries such as the USA, the United Kingdom and Germany, to encourage the consumption of at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day, following requests by the World Health Organization to consume at least 400g of vegetables daily.In...
in USDA recommendations relative to World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
and NHS
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
recommendations.
Food groups
In general terms, the healthy eating pyramid recommends the following intake of different food groups each day, although exact amounts of calorie intake depends on sex, age, and lifestyle:- Daily exercise to expend calories for weight control
- At most meals, whole grainWhole grainWhole grains are cereal grains that contain cereal germ, endosperm, and bran, in contrast to refined grains, which retain only the endosperm. Whole grains can generally be sprouted while refined grains generally will not sprout. Whole-meal products are made by grinding whole grains in order to make...
foods including oatmealOatmealOatmeal is ground oat groats , or a porridge made from oats . Oatmeal can also be ground oat, steel-cut oats, crushed oats, or rolled oats....
, whole-wheat bread, and brown riceBrown riceBrown rice is unmilled or partly milled rice, a kind of whole, natural grain. It has a mild nutty flavor, is chewier and more nutritious than white rice, but goes rancid more quickly because the germ—which is removed to make white rice—contains fats that can spoil...
;1 piece or 4 oz (~113.4g).
- Plant oils, including olive oilOlive oilOlive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...
, canola oil, soybean oilSoybean oilSoybean oil is a vegetable oil extracted from the seeds of the soybean . It is one of the most widely consumed cooking oils. As a drying oil, processed soybean oil is also used as a base for printing inks and oil paints...
, corn oilCorn oilCorn oil is oil extracted from the germ of corn . Its main use is in cooking, where its high smoke point makes refined corn oil a valuable frying oil. It is also a key ingredient in some margarines. Corn oil is generally less expensive than most other types of vegetable oils. One bushel of corn...
, and sunflower seed oil; 2 oz. (~56.7g) per day
- VegetableVegetableThe noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
s, in abundance 3 or more each day. Each serv. 6 oz (~170g).
- 2-3 servings of fruitFruitIn broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
s; Ea. serv. = 1 piece of fruit or 4 oz (~113.4g).
- 1-3 servings of nutsNut (fruit)A nut is a hard-shelled fruit of some plants having an indehiscent seed. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts in English, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts...
, or legumes; Ea. serv. = 2 oz (~56.7g).
- 1-2 servings of dairyDairyA dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...
or calciumCalciumCalcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...
supplement; Ea serv. = 8 oz. (~226.8g) non fat or 4 oz. (~113.4g) of whole.
- 1-2 servings of poultryPoultryPoultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...
, fishFishFish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, or eggsEgg (food)Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...
; Ea. serv = 4 oz (~113.4g) or 1 egg.
- Sparing use of white riceWhite riceWhite rice is the name given to milled rice that has had its husk, bran, and germ removed. This alters the flavour, texture and appearance of the rice and helps prevent spoilage and extend its storage life. After milling, the rice is polished, resulting in a seed with a bright, white, shiny...
, white breadWhite breadWhite bread is made from wheat flour from which the bran and the germ have been removed through a process known as milling. Milling gives white flour a longer shelf life by removing the bran which contains oil, allowing products made with it, like white bread, the ability to survive storage and...
, potatoPotatoThe potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es, pastaPastaPasta is a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine, now of worldwide renown. It takes the form of unleavened dough, made in Italy, mostly of durum wheat , water and sometimes eggs. Pasta comes in a variety of different shapes that serve for both decoration and to act as a carrier for the...
and sweetsSweetSwas a Japanese idol group. Put together through auditions, the group debuted in 2003 on the avex trax label. Although the group met minor success, they disbanded after three years with the release of a final single in June 2006....
;
- Sparing use of red meatRed meatRed meat in traditional culinary terminology is meat which is red when raw and not white when cooked. In the nutritional sciences, red meat includes all mammal meat. Red meat includes the meat of most adult mammals and some fowl ....
and butterButterButter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...
.
See also
- Dietary supplementDietary supplementA dietary supplement, also known as food supplement or nutritional supplement, is a preparation intended to supplement the diet and provide nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids, or amino acids, that may be missing or may not be consumed in sufficient quantities in a person's diet...
- DietingDietingDieting is the practice of eating food in a regulated fashion to achieve or maintain a controlled weight. In most cases dieting is used in combination with physical exercise to lose weight in those who are overweight or obese. Some athletes, however, follow a diet to gain weight...
- List of diets
- Essential nutrientEssential nutrientAn essential nutrient is a nutrient required for normal body functioning that either cannot be synthesized by the body at all, or cannot be synthesized in amounts adequate for good health , and thus must be obtained from a dietary source...
- FoodFoodFood is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
- Functional foodFunctional foodFunctional food is a food where a new ingredient has been added to a food and the new product has a new function ....
- Healthy eating
- Food guide pyramidFood guide pyramidA food guide pyramid is a triangular or pyramid-shaped nutrition guide divided into sections to show the recommended intake for each food group. The first food pyramid was published in Sweden in 1974. The most widely known food pyramid was introduced by the United States Department of Agriculture...
- NutritionNutritionNutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
- Orthorexia nervosaOrthorexia nervosaOrthorexia nervosa is a term used by Steven Bratman to describe people who have developed a fixation with healthy or righteous eating and has been referred to as a mental disorder. It is not a medically recognized term....
(an obsession with healthy eating) - Health food restaurantHealth food restaurantHealth food restaurants have been around for decades serving nutritional food to the public. Health food is defined by Dictionary.com as any natural food popularly believed to promote or sustain good health, as by containing vital nutrients, being grown without the use of pesticides, or having a...
s
External links
- Food Pyramids Harvard School of Public Health Nutrition Source, Shows the difference of the Healthy Eating Pyramid from the USDA pyramid.
- Is the Food Pyramid Obsolete? npr.org, Nov 21 2002.
- The Way We Eat Now Harvard Magazine, May-June 2004.