Eating Healthy for Life

You’ve probably heard of it, but never knew exactly what it meant. To put it simply, the eating healthy pyramid is a nutritional guide which has been developed by the Harvard School of Public Health. It suggests how much of each food category a person should eat each day.

The whole idea of this eating healthy pyramid it to provide a better eating guide compared to the more widespread food guide pyramid which was created by the USDA. In the USA around 80% of Americans are aware of the eating healthy pyramid, but only about 8% of them actually follow the recommendations contained within it.

The whole idea of someone using the eating healthy pyramid is to help them choose what they eat, and how much of it they eat from each group to ensure that they are provided with the following:

1. That they get all the nutrients they need for their body to cope with life on a daily basis.

2. That they are consuming the correct amount of energy in order to control their weight.

3. That they are restricting the amount of fat, sugar or alcohol that they consume.

The eating healthy pyramid is divided up into 6 groups and these are as follows:

1. Grains - This includes bread, cereals and pasta and these should make up the largest part of a your daily diet. You should aim to have between 6 to 11 servings of these each day.

2. Plant Sources - These make up the second and third groups in the pyramid and include fruits and vegetables. You should be aiming to eat between 3 to 5 servings of vegetables and 2 to 4 servings of fruit each day.

3. Dairy Products are the fourth group in the pyramid. This includes milk, yogurt and cheese. They are a great source of protein and it is recommended that you should have between 2 to 3 servings of these each day.

4. Meat, Fish, Poultry and Eggs - Also included in this group are dried beans and nuts, for those of you who are vegetarian. The recommended number of servings each day is between 2 and 3. These are important as they provide the body with protein, calcium, iron and zinc.

5. Fats, Oils and Sugars - This is the final group and provides us with taste and calories. You only need to have a small amount of oil or fat (and this needs to be used sparingly) as it contains high energy content. There is no nutritional value to be had from sugar - all it does is contribute extra calories to your diet.