Guest post by Leah Gallin of Medical Assistant Schools.
We all grew up with the sure knowledge that the food pyramid proudly displayed on colorful posters in the school lunchroom was there to guide us on our path to healthy eating. With helpful suggestions about what foods to eat and how many to eat in a day, we had a surefire way to embrace a diet that would provide us with a long and happy life.
Six to eleven servings from the bread group (bread, rice, pasta, cereal) make up the majority of your diet. Then add three to five servings of vegetables and two to four of fruits. Throw in two to three servings from the protein group (meat, poultry, fish, eggs, beans, nuts) as well as two to three servings of dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese) and you’re almost done. Cap it off with sparing use of fats and sugars and voilá! There’s your diet.
Well Rounded Nutrition
It seems that the main idea is a well-rounded diet, albeit a bit heavy on the carbs and fiber. And if you consider that our bodies are engineered for hunting and gathering, then this nutritional guide is probably ideal. However, there are a few problems where modern man is concerned.
For one thing, there is the little issue of consumer culture, which provides us with many options that are not accounted for on the food pyramid. For example, white bread. Yes, it fits into the bread group. Only, it’s not really healthy for you at all. Bleached flour has almost no nutritional value (not to mention the fact that it has twice as much sugar as dietary fiber), and yet, nowhere on the food pyramid is there a suggestion that what they really mean is whole grains.
Then there’s the fact that many people lead sedentary lifestyles that don’t require that level of intake. And more and more people want alternatives to the meat and potatoes regimen of our parents’ generation due to allergies and concerns about the way food is grown, processed, prepared, and preserved.
Change
Does the government even care about nutrition? This is not an attempt to disparage our county’s venerable governing body (which is rightly more concerned about terrorists in Afghanistan than the sorry state of our waistlines), but rather a statement that for decades lobbyists have had their grubby little fingers in everybody’s fridge, using their influence to tell us all what to consume (even if it means that most Americans will spend significantly fewer years buying and eating their sodium- and sugar-laden products).
Well, finally the government is starting to make a change, thanks in no small part to our new first lady and her fight against childhood obesity, along with the health care system belatedly catching on to the fact that early prevention is cheaper than late treatment.
One Size Does Not Fit All
A visit to the My Pyramid portion of the USDA website turns up interesting and unanticipated results, beginning with the phrase, “One size doesn’t fit all”. But isn’t the food pyramid for everyone? Not anymore.
The modern food pyramid now offers tools to help you form a diet that’s custom-built for your needs as well as giving advice on physical fitness (the food pyramid logo now has stairs, as in “Steps to a healthier you”). In addition, the site encourages consumers to purchase organic foods and visit their local farmer’s market. What?! That’s right. They’re advocating for local growers.
They also have resources for specific groups like expectant mothers and kids in different age groups, as well as a food and physical activity tracking function to help you progress towards your health and fitness goals.
New Food Pyramid
It’s pretty amazing to see the steps that the government has taken towards transforming their tarnished image (reports of unhealthy products in school lunches) and that they have provided an informative resource that can effect a real and positive change for many Americans.
The food pyramid of today, while bearing a slight resemblance to the standby of yesteryear (it’s still a pyramid, after all), has undergone a radical overhaul that has not only brought basic nutrition into the 21st century, but rendered it in a way that is both accessible and comprehensive. Kudos to Michelle Obama for getting the ball rolling. Now everyone just has to get on board!
Guest post by Leah Gallin of Medical Assistant Schools where you can find a medical assistant job description.
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Photo by David Reece