The United States Department of Agriculture's food pyramid offers a guide to healthy eating that can help you make better choices to get the nutrients your body needs. Although the USDA food pyramid has changed over the past few decades, the basics are the same. If you're concerned about your diet, you can also gain helpful advice from your health-care provider or a registered dietitian.
Features
The USDA food pyramid contains six main food-group categories: grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy, proteins and fats. The pyramid previously featured horizontal bands and blocks representing each food group, with the largest food group on the bottom and the smallest at the tip. Now the pyramid has vertical, color-coded bands. The width of each band represents the general amount of food that you should consume from each food group, so the wider the band, the more choices you should include from that food group in your diet. The thickest bands are the grains, vegetables and dairy food groups. The bands for fruit and proteins are slightly narrower, while the band for oils or fats is the smallest band.
Recommendations
The orange band represents grains, and the USDA recommends you eat 6 to 8 oz. from this group each day. However, the pyramid emphasizes that at least half of your grains come from whole-grain sources, such as whole-grain breads, cereals, crackers and pastas, as well as brown rice. The green band represents the vegetable group and emphasizes eating a variety of vegetables, particularly dark-green and orange vegetables, as well as dried beans and peas. The band for milk products is light blue and emphasizes low-fat or fat-free dairy products. In the red-banded fruit category, the USDA recommends eating a variety of fruits in the form of fresh, dried, canned or frozen fruits instead of fruit juices. The purple-banded protein category includes low-fat or lean meats and poultry, as well as fish and plant-based protein sources like beans, seeds, nuts and peas. Finally, the oils or fats group is represented by a yellow band and stresses avoiding solid fats from shortening, lard, stick margarine and butter. The USDA recommends consuming most if not all of your fats from vegetable oils, fish and nuts.
Tips
The pyramid focuses on variety and moderation as the keys to a healthy diet. Controlling your serving sizes is also essential. Keep a food diary for one week to examine how you can improve your diet in terms of variety and moderation, as well as to ensure that you're eating foods from each food group in the pyramid. You can make small changes to your diet gradually in order to meet the food pyramid's recommendations. Be sure to limit your salt, cholesterol, sugar, trans fat and saturated fat intake for the healthiest diet.
Considerations
The USDA food pyramid is a general guide to nutrition, but following it exactly may not be appropriate for everyone. For example, children, pregnant or breastfeeding women and elderly people all have unique nutritional needs that don't necessarily conform exactly to the USDA food pyramid. People with high blood pressure or other cardiovascular problems may need to further limit their sodium intake, while people with diabetes need to limit their intake of sugars and carbohydrates. Also, food allergies and dietary restrictions can alter some individuals' ability to follow the USDA food pyramid's guidelines. Talk with your doctor or a registered dietitian about any special concerns you have regarding a healthy diet and specific foods.
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