- The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), recently changed the standard food pyramid name to MyPyramid because, as it says, one size doesn't fit all. Your age, weight, gender and activity levels will all have an effect on how and what you should eat, so the new MyPyramid has interactive tools that help customize your diet to suit your lifestyle. The pyramid sets guidelines for all federal nutrition programs like school lunches; it also influences what we buy at the grocery store.
- More emphasis has been placed on weight control in the new MyPyramid. This issue wasn't widely addressed previously; guidelines simply stated that all fats were bad. The new guidelines advise us to keep transfats, like margarine, as low as possible and to limit saturated fats, like butter. This latest recommendations recognize the potential health danger from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats and says we should limit fat calories to 20 to 35% of our daily intake.
- The term "complex carbohydrates" used to be an accepted term on the food pyramid, but on the new MyPyramid that term is no longer used. Instead, we are urged to limit our sugar intake and increase our whole grain intake. The pyramid also says that half of our grains can be in the form of refined starch, like snack foods, which act in the body exactly like sugar and add up to empty calories.
- MyPyramid suggests that we drink three glasses of low fat milk or have three servings of other dairy, like cottage cheese or yogurt, every day. While this will help prevent osteoporosis, some nutritionists advise that this can add at least 300 calories daily. Individuals trying to lose weight or those who are lactose intolerant should tailor the dairy recommendations to fit their needs.
MyPyramid
Weight Control
Carbohydrates
Dairy
SHARE
