Understanding the Food Pyramid

Nutrition has become my passion in recent years  I have always loved food.  Controlling my love of food was the issue.  It made me feel too good.  Just like a drug.  My emotional health seemed to depend on my eating very fattening processed food .  It sometimes seemed like the only solution to stop gaining fat, was to starve.   Take it from me, it is not the answer to any problem.  .  Food is necessary for all to survive.  So going without it is not an option. 

So what is eating healthy?  The answer to this question turns out to be much more complex than I had ever realized.  That is why I must to start at the very beginning.  For me that is the Food Pyramid.  I now refer to it as the Standard American Diet.   The food pyramid shows us graphically what foods we should eat and in what proportion. At the base of this pyramid we have the largest area which signifies that the greatest number of calories should be obtained from these foods.  Here we have our grains such as bread, pasta and rice, eat 6-11 servings per day.  Fruit and vegetables are found on the next, slightly smaller level, meaning, less calories from these foods.   A mere 5-10 servings are suggested per day.  Even less room as we move to the next level of the triangle.  This is where we will find our proteins.  Dairy products like cheese, milk and yogurt are here.  Along side are other protein sources such as animal proteins, nuts, beans and legumes..  Combined we are looking at roughly 5-6 servings everyday.  What is left?  Not much.  Very little sugar and fat. Barely enough to signify a serving size. This is due to the fact that by consuming the other foods you will be getting your required amounts of fat and sugars.
 

The chart appears to be straight forward enough. Quite a simple way to depict nutritional requirements.  Yet, when I was younger I remained confused about the whole thing.  Growing years aren't necessarily knowing years, and we often don't get the importance of nutrients in our food.  Food is food, and we eat what we like.

Whole grains like quinoa, brown rice and oatmeal are good choices.  Some pasta and a serving of bread are alright.  I consider potatoes and other root vegetables to be in this category.  SAD is groups them with vegetables.   I limit myself to one serving of bread (the more fiber the better) per day.  Even though bread may contain whole grains it is not a whole food.  Show me a bread tree.  Vitamins and minerals that we get from bread are added into the mix.  We need naturally occurring nutrients so that our bodies can absorb them..

Vegetables and fruit are our best friends.  Less calories naturally unless you eat a lot of potatoes.  All root vegetables tend to be a lot more calorie dense than other vegetables.  At lease they are nutrient dense calories.  Other vegetables like broccoli and asparagus and leafy greens have very few calories.   Combining vegetables while you cook them can easily make them more appealing.   Salads can be an adventure in flavors if we let them.  Thinking outside the box.  Sometimes I will do a stir fry of onions with tomatoes and I use different tricks to enhance the flavor.  Throw that on top of our raw salad and add a little balsamic vinegar.  We can make it as wild as we like just getting to know our favorite spices,  I have learned to embrace fruit for there natural sweetness.  Natures own treat.

Choosing very lean proteins is important.  There is a little, to a lot, of fat in most of our favorite meats.  Fatty fish is the only exception.  This is very beneficial fat and it is unlikely you will consume to much of this fat.  Beans and nuts are also high in fats. Again, a much more tolerable and beneficial fat.  Skinless chicken breasts are very low in fat and are a good choice in the meat department.  We must be careful how we prepare our lean proteins though.  It would be very easy to add unhealthy fat, if prepared  in a carefree manner.  You could boil or poach your chicken breasts.  I have thrown seasoning in boiling water while cooking breasts this way. I enjoy the taste.  Many people would not like them prepared that way.  Baking without fat, using only spices can make for flavorful chicken.  Stir frying with cooking spray and chicken broth and balsamic vinegar and more spices works well for me.   While stir frying I usually through in lots of vegetables.  This adds lots of flavor, moisture and more of those natural vitamins and minerals that I love so much.     



  ......to be continued