Food Pyramid Guide for Dieters
The Diet Food Pyramid
Written by Sky Taylor, Diet Bites
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Food Pyramid, Not Perfect But Best Pattern for Healthy Body
A good diet is based on the official Food Pyramid - although not a perfect structure, it is the best pattern for building a healthy diet in the modern day world.
It's also a great ideal to get in touch with your ethnic background as well as the Food Pyramids associated with such. For example, Rita's ethnic makeup is Mexican and Greek.
Getting in Touch With Your Ethnic Roots While Dieting
The Mexican diet contains tortillas over bread selections which are recommended in the American pyramid version. Flat breads are a common staple on the Greek table. Rita could benefit by adding both to her current weight loss plan.
Let's look at vegetables. While the Mexican diet contains cactus, legumes, squash, tomatoes, corn, potatoes, olives, and jicama - the Greek diet contains cucumbers, eggplant, lentils, beans, onions, pepper, tomatoes and olives. Here we see foods that mirror one another in the vegetable garden.
Now let's look at how Rita can combine foods of her heritage for fruit selections. The Mexican diet is rich in bananas, guava, mangos, oranges, papaya, pineapple and avocado while the Greek diet is rich in dates, figs, grapes, lemons, melons and raisins.
For proteins, the Mexican diet contains fish, lean beef, poultry, lamb, pork, egg yolks, beans, refried beans, bacon, fried fish, nuts and chorizo. The Greek diet might have the following proteins on their table: egg white, fish, seafood, lentils, beans, egg yolks, lamb, poultry, beef, ground lamb, ground beef, gyros, almonds and walnuts.
As to the dairy foods, the Mexican diet contains evaporated low fat milk, powdered fat free milk, cheddar cheese, jack cheese, flans and cocoa drink which the Greek diet contains low fat yogurt, feta cheese and goat cheese.
By pulling foods from both ethnic groups, Rita can enjoy a vast variety of foods that might work best with her personal ethnic makeup. All too often we embrace a daily diet filled with foods that our ancestors would never have imagined - much less consumed. Getting back to the basics is just one way of losing weight effectively.
Questions Relating to Dieting & the Food Pyramid, Food Groups
Dieters who use the American Food Pyramid as a base for weight loss may wonder how many servings they should eat from the Food Pyramid in order to lose weight while retaining an optimum level of health. Questions might include the following.
Should I reduce the Food Group servings so that they go below the recommended allowance to generate weight loss?
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Question 1 Answers & a Picture of a Diet Food Pyramid
Should I cut fat completely from my Diet Food Pyramid in order to reduce calories for weight loss?
What are my best food choices from each Food Group? How can I get the best Diet Bang for my Diet Buck?
Let's begin by examining the current daily serving recommendations for the Food Pyramid:
How many servings for each Food Group in the Food Pyramid
Milk, Yogurt & Cheese Food Group: 2-3 Servings
Meat, Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans, Eggs & Nuts Group: 2-3 Servings
Fruit Group: 2 - 4 Servings
Vegetable Food Group: 3-5 Servings
Bread, Cereal, Rice & Pasta Group: 6-11 Servings
Fats, Oils & Sweets - Use Sparingly
PICTURE OF FOOD PYRAMID
Grains, Foundation of Food Pyramid Followed by Fruit & Vegetable Groups
As you view the picture of the American Food Pyramid, note the foods which reside at the bottom - the base foundation.
Without a solid foundation, a house would fall at the slightest gust of wind. And when it comes to creating the healthiest daily diet, we should be like the wise house-builder - and build a strong foundation.
The foundation is the healthy Grain Group. Grains are so versatile because we can add all of the remaining food groups to a grain group selection. This is how pizza, cheeseburgers, tacos, sandwiches, chili, pita and kangaroo pockets and many casserole recipes came into being. They all begin with that healthy grain base; layers of vegetables and protein selections are added along with a dairy selection. Add some tomato, avocado or other fresh fruit - and we have a well-rounded meal.
The next most important groups are vegetables and fruit - followed by proteins and dairy. Fruits are often left in the dust where the daily diet is concerned, by-passed for granulated sugar desserts. Vegetables tend to get dipped and fried, then dipped again in fatty, high calorie sauces.
Proteins & Dairy Groups Require Less Daily Servings Than Other Food Groups
Proteins tend to be animal rather than plant protein sources which are the healthier choice; and dairy products tend to be of the full-blown variety which can also blow weight out of control.
Again - getting back to the basics where our daily diet is concerned just makes good sense and can assist greatly in trimming those unhealthy pounds from the body in a safe manner.
Be sure to read the information contained in the above links which provide detailed information on how you can get the most out of your personal food pyramid.
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