THE FOOD PYRAMID

THE DIETARY GUIDELINES

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• Eat a variety of foods
• Balance the food you eat with physical activity
• Choose a diet moderate in sugars
• Choose a diet with plenty of grain products, vegetables, and fruits
• Etc.

WHAT IS THE FOOD GUIDE PYRAMID?

• The pyramid is an outline of what to eat each day.
• The food pyramid is for you to get the right nutrients for a healthy life.

PIECES OF THE FOOD PYRAMID

• The food pyramid emphasizes foods from 5 major types of groups.
• Each of this groups provides some nutrients you need and cannot be replaced, for good health you need them all.

The small tip of the pyramid shows fats, such as oil and sweets.
For example: Margarine, Candies, Desserts, salad dressing and others.

On the second level there are two groups of food that come mostly from animals. For example: Milk, cheese , and yoghurt. And the other group: Fish, meat, beans and eggs. These foods give protein, calcium and other factors.

The third level, this level includes vegetables
And fruits. This gives vitamins, minerals and fiber supplies.

The last base includes breads cereals, rice and pasta, all food from grains. This is the most important servings.

A closer look at fats

• Fats are in the tip of the pyramid. The may produce a lot of calories but the may give little or non nutrients. By using this foods sparingly, you may be able to have the adequate diet.

FATS

• In general foods that comes from animals have natural fats, more than plants. Vegetables are really low in calories but many famous brands make vegetables into something with fat. For example: Baked potatoes and French fries. They make them seem good but what you're eating is a lot of fat.

ADDED SUGAR

• There are two kinds of sugars the natural one for example in milk and the added one which is added to; Ice creams, Jam, candies, soft drinks and other things.

FAT & SUGAR TIPS:

• Choose lower fat food form the other groups to be healthy.
• Go easy on food with a lot of fats like margarine.
• Choose fewer food that is high in Sugars

HOW TO MAKE THE PYRAMID WORK FOR YOU:

• The pyramid shows the adequate servings to eat and have a healthy life. The number of servings depend on the amount of calories you need. Everyone should have at least the lowest servings.

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• For sedentary women the calories should be 1600.
• For teenage girls and most sedentary men the calories should be 2200.
• For teenage boys the calories should be 2800.

WHAT IS A SERVING?

• If you eat a larger portion, count it as more than one serving. For example, 1/2 cup of cooked pasta counts as one serving in the bread, cereal, rice, and pasta group. If you eat 1 cup of pasta, that would be two servings.

DO I NEED TO MEASURE SERVINGS?

• No. Use servings only as a general guide. For mixed foods, do the best you can to estimate the food group servings of the main ingredients. For example, a generous serving of pizza would count in the grain group (crust), the milk group (cheese), and the vegetable group (tomato)

The best and simplest way to lose weight is to increase your physical activity and reduce the fat and sugars in your diet.

FATS & CHOLESTEROL

• Guidelines recommend that Americans limit fat in their diets to 30 percent of calories.

How to check your diet for fat

• You can always check in the food pyramid for the check of how many fats things have. You don't have to do it daily it's better to check once in a while.

What is cholesterol?

• Cholesterol is a fat-like substance present in all animal foods—meat, poultry, fish, milk and milk products, and egg yolks. Eating to much fat is bad because it increases your blood cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease.