The New Food Pyramid
Far be it for government and insurance companies to tell us what to do. Whoops! That was alternate reality speaking. The government is looking out for us again, with new dietary guidelines.
The old food pyramid is gone, along with the four food groups (what were they? salt, sugar, grease, and caffeine, right?). Now we have a new pyramid that allows people to make an individually targeted plan. We have more than four groups now:
- Grains
- Vegetables
- Fruits
- Milk
- Meat & Beans
- Oils
- Discretionary Foods
Clearly vegans aren't going to like the “milk” group, but at least they can go to beans instead of meat. I'm not a vegan, but I do dislike cheese in a very significant way.
I stuffed in the settings for a 36-year-old moderately active male and got a 2600 calorie program (much more than the 1700 Bally's Total Fitness wants me to eat) letting me eat 9 ounces of grains (4.5 ounces of which should be whole grains), 3.5 cups of vegetables, 2 cups of fruits, 3 cups of milk and 6.5 ounces of meat and beans per day. It also wants me to limit my oils and discretionary foods to 8 ounces a day.
While this system is better than the old one, perhaps, it still is not targeted very well. It does not take into account my height, muscle mass, genetics, stress level, and many other aspects of health that affect the efficacy of their plan for me. Hopefully the insurance companies won't be considering mandating compliance with these guidelines.
Josh Poulson
Posted Tuesday, Apr 19 2005 08:41 AM
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