Looking Up At the Top of the Food Pyramid

May 04, 2010.

There’s a new food pyramid with a few changes you may wonder why were made. It’s not that anything was desperately wrong with the old one. The previous information concerning nutrition was not wrong. The new guidelines from the new food pyramid are similar to the old one. Plus, the graphic changes on the new food pyramid are now more specific and clearer than before.

There are changes on the new pyramid that produce brightly colored vertical stripes that each represents one of the following six food groups:
• Vegetables (Green)
• Grains (Orange and widest)
• Fruits (Red)
• Milk – including foods made from milk (Blue)
• Meat and Beans (Purple)
• Oils (Yellow and the thinnest stripe)

The colored stripes on the food pyramid are narrow at the top and wider at the bottom. The idea is to convey that not all foods in a group will have the same nutritional values. For example, beef and chicken may be in the same food group. However, beef and chicken will have different nutritional aspects as well as different calories.

If you have visited the new food guide pyramid at www.mypyramid.com you might have become a bit overwhelmed. You might have thought making food choices should be an easy task. Well, give it a little time and some practice. Make some healthier food choices week after week as you slowly work toward the top. Eat more whole grains, vegetables, fruits, lean meat, low-fat dairy and beans. Stay away from processes grains, cheese, whole milk and, yes, hamburgers and sugary sodas. It may be tough, at first, but your body will thank you many times over once you get into a routine eating healthier foods.

You can receive help putting your name on your own food pyramid at www.mypyramidtracker.gov. Here you will enter personal information like your age, weight, gender and activity level so you can find out what you should eat. The site allows users to assess a personal diet and exercise plan while tracking your food intake.