How to Use the Food Pyramid Guide for Healthy Eating and Living

You're probably familiar with it-the Food Guide Pyramid, that little picture that graces the side of your cereal box. In 1992 the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued this handy device to show at a glance the proportions of daily intake from each food group that should supply all the nutrients you need to maintain your health: six to eleven servings of grain foods, three to five servings of vegetables, two to four servings of fruit, two to three servings of milk, yogurt and cheese, two to three servings of meat, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and or nuts, and sparing use of fats and sweets.

Who could eat all this and not turn into a blimp, you wonder. In fact, three quarters of the servings come from the pyramids lower tiers-the grains, veggies and fruits. Almost all of these are low in calories and high in nutrients, if not processed or prepared with added fat ( like French Fries or potato chips). And compared to the average American serving in the home or most restaurants, the pyramids servings are sparing: One serving equals half a cup of pasta, one slice of bread, one ounce of ready-to-eat cereal, a melon wedge, half a cup of cooked vegetables. If you eat the minimum servings recommended and keep added fats and sweets to a minimum, the number of calories in your diet will be reasonable, and most likely low enough to promote weight loss.

What is the beauty of the pyramid? It's not prescriptive. You can eat what suits you, and as long as you adhere to its general principles of variety and balance, you will know that your are eating healthfully. Among other things, grains will provide you with B vitamins, fiber and minerals such as iron. You will get vitamins A and C, antioxidants, potassium, and fiber- just to mention a few-from veggies and fruits. Dairy foods will supply you with calcium and B vitamins. Poultry, fish, eggs, nuts, beans, and meat will meet various requirements including your need for protein, B vitamins and iron.

Getting nutrients from all of the groups may well be the best approach to healthy living, not to mention dieting and lifetime weight maintenance. "Food Specific satiety" is the way nutritionists describe the human appetite for different foods. Nature has a way of making sure you eat a varied diet to get the full array of nutrients. That's why trendy food-group-elimination diets rarely work: they literally force you into craving food your body needs.

In order to achieve all of the benefits of your dieting and weight loss program, make sure to follow the pyramid according to your own bodies needs.