The Food Pyramid: Healthy Meals, Diets, & Nutrition Information

HealthyPals · **Site Rank:** Site Admin

The food pyramid is a triangular chart that shows the various nutrients and foods that a healthy body needs for optimal functioning.

The food pyramid consists of 4 major branches:

Fats, Oils and Sweets - This group is the no-no food group that doesn't have to be completely avoided. The key is to consume them in moderation. It is wise to never eat any foods with trans fat. Polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats are healthier for the heart. Limit butter, hard margarine and lard from foods.
Diary, meat, poultry, fish - When eating meat, try to remove all of the fat from the meat and removing the skin from poultry. Also try to avoid highly salted tinned and processed meats.
Fruits and vegetables - Dark, leafy green vegetables and colorful fruits are packed with the necessary nutrients your body needs. Cabbage, spinach, broccoli, pumpkin, beetroot, strawberries, grapes, oranges and berries are all good examples. Steaming and baking vegetables are much better than frying them. When frying vegetables most of the good nutrients are usually lost. Starches, such as potatoes, should be limited.
Carbohydrates - Pasta, rice, noodles, maize, bread, beans and oats are examples of the types of carbohydrates that provide the body with fiber, calcium, vitamin B and iron. Your body needs at least 25 grams of fiber a day which is essential for a healthy digestive system.

crosewood · **Site Rank:** Healthy Friend

how do you measure servings? i know with meat, it's a deck of cards. what about the rest?

HealthyPals · **Site Rank:** Site Admin

crosewood wrote:

how do you measure servings? i know with meat, it's a deck of cards. what about the rest?

This is a good question. Below is the information that I found regarding serving sizes for the food pyramid.

The serving size from each group varies depending on how many calories you take in each day which depends on your activity level, body size, gender, age, and stage of life. The chart picture posted above, is just a general idea of how many servings each group you should consume.

General serving sizes for each group are:

Fats, Oils and Sweets - No more than 24 grams or 6 teaspoons
Diary, meat, poultry, fish - For dairy, 3 cups equals 1 serving. For meat and poultry about 5.5 ounces equals one serving.
Fruits and vegetables - About 1/2 cups equals 1 serving
Carbohydrates - About 1 ounce equals 1 serving

Y's Guy · **Site Rank:** Moderator

A deck of cards??? that's like one bite for me... I need to check my portion sizes... Can it at least be the Jumbo deck of cards? :shock:

Ziggy · **Site Rank:** Healthy BBF

I found this chart online to compare everyday objects with serving sizes. These size comparisons are approximations.

Serving Size Card:

Attachment:

servingsize.jpg [ 123.02 KiB | Viewed 37 times ]

Source: http://hp2010.nhlbihin.net/portion/keep.htm

tammy · **Site Rank:** Site Admin

This is a neat little chart! Thanks for posting it, Ziggy!

Who is online