Self-Himprovement All Articles – Fitness, Wellness, and Lifestyle Wellness The Food Pyramid Revisited (Spoiler: You Don’t Need THAT Much Bread)
The traditional food pyramid has been considered outdated for quite some time. The first food pyramid was published in Sweden in 1974, eventually gaining popularity in other countries.
It is a diagram that is intended to represent the optimal number of servings that we should eat from each basic food group (dairy, fruits, vegetables, meat, and grains, beans, and legumes). In 1992, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) created the “Food Guide Pyramid”, which became an American icon and a template for how Americans can achieve a healthy, balanced diet.
But, due to later research on diet, nutrition, and health, we discovered that this sort of food pyramid didn’t accurately reflect what a balanced, nutrient-rich diet looked like.
Let’s look at where the food pyramid goes wrong and how recent evidence informs dietary recommendations today.
Where the Food Pyramid Goes Wrong
For a decade since its inception, the government-backed food pyramid advised Americans to stay away from fat and eat a diet largely based on carbohydrates. For example, in 1992, the government recommended that people eat the following each day:- Six to 11 servings of rice, bread, cereal, and pasta
- Three to five servings of vegetables
- Two to four servings of fruits
- Two to three servings of milk, yogurt, and cheese
- Two to three servings of meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs, and nuts
- Fats, oils, and sweets: use sparingly
How to Achieve a Balanced, Nutrient-Rich Diet
In 2002, a study published by the Harvard School of Public Health found that the food pyramid was very much out of sync with scientific evidence on what diet best protects people against chronic diseases. Walter Willett and Marjorie McCullough, two scientists behind the study, found that their Harvard-designed diet – which contained fewer carbs and more (unsaturated) fats than the government’s guidelines – significantly reduced the risk of heart disease. The Harvard diet recommends:- Five servings of vegetables
- Four servings of fruit
- One serving of nuts and tofu
- Eat white meat (fish or poultry) four times as often as red meat (beef, pork, lamb, and processed meats)
- Three to six servings of whole grains, such as dark bread and high-fiber cereals