The Healthy Eating Food Pyramid

In the United States - The US Department Of Agriculture has devised a Food Guide Pyramid - which serves as a guide for people to understand how to eat healthy. The Food pyramid guide features a chart filled with vertical stripes that represent the five major food groups - plus oils and fats. The color stand for: Green – vegetables - red – fruits - yellow – oils and fats - Blue – milk and dairy products - Orange – grains - Purple – meat - fish - beans and nuts. Here are other pertinent facts about the food guide. 

What The Food Pyramid Speaks Of

In 2005 - the US Department of Agriculture revised the food pyramid - as they wanted to show Americans a better way of how to eat healthy. The food pyramid has other messages for all of us. It tells us to eat a wide variety of foods - as well as eat less of some foods and more of others. In the illustrated food pyramid guide - eating a wide variety of food indicates that a balanced diet is achieved when you include all the food groups. This means that you need to have foods of every color - each day. In the illustrated food guide - you’ll see that as the colored start to get thinner as they reach the top - this indicates that there is a difference between food groups - even if they all belong to a certain food group. 

Food Serving Samples

The food pyramid guide offers a number of suggestions for achieving a balanced and nutritious diet. Her are some food serving suggestions. 

• Grains: Grains are generally measured in ounces. An ounce of whole grains could be equivalent to 1 a slice of bread - half a cup of cooked cereal - half a cup of pasta and 1 cup of cold cereal. 4 to 8 year-old children require at least 4 to 5ounces of whole grains each day - while 9-13 year-olds need at least 5 ounces.

• Vegetables: Dark green and orange veggies are best for consumption. Vegetable servings are generally measured in cups - Children from 4- 8 years old need at least one and a half cups of vegetables each day - while 9 to 13 year olds need 2 ½ cups of veggies each day.

• Fruits: Sweet - juicy fruits should be part of the daily diet. Children from 4- 8 year-old need at least 1 cup of fruit each day - while 9-13 year old adolescents need to consume at least half a cup of fruit each day.

• Milk And Calcium-Rich Food: Calcium is a mineral that helps strengthen bones - and prevent osteoporosis and other bone deficiencies. 4-8 year-old kids need at least 2 cups of milk each day - while 9-13 year olds need to have at least 3 cups of milk daily. Apart from milk - you can also substitute cheese - yogurt - calcium-fortified orange juice and others.

• Milk - Beans - Fish And Nuts: An ounce equivalent of this group would be equal to 1 ounce of fish - poultry and fish - ¼ cup cooked dry beans - 1 egg - 1 tablespoon peanut butter and half an ounce of nuts and seeds.