Most legitimate diet programs have a chart or diagram that lists down how much nutrient or vitamin your body needs on a daily basis. The most famous diagram used for nutrition is perhaps the food or diet pyramid that illustrates the ideal serving for each basic food group.
As a parent with growing kids, it is important not only to keep your children well-fed but to feed them the right food for optimal growth. Here is a brief guide to the food pyramid nutrition.
Purpose
The purpose of the food pyramid is to provide an easy guide for healthy eating, which means there is a clear illustration of how much carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, fat, and minerals are needed to be healthy. The division of the type of food is based on the type of nutrients they contain. The aim of following the guide is to get the right balance of all the essential good stuff without over-consumption of the other food groups.
Old Pyramid
The structure of the pyramid should tell you that you should not consume more of the food that belongs to the top, but you need to eat more of each food group from the second level to the bottom level. This can be used both to maintain a healthy weight or to gain weight because there is a minimum and maximum number of servings for each food group.
In the old pyramid food group, you should consume sweets, oil, and fats the least because they belong on the top of the pyramid. Below that are classified milk, yogurt, and cheese as well as meat, fish, poultry, eggs, beans, and nuts. You should only have 2 or 3 servings per day.
After that are the vegetables and fruits, which you will need 2 to 4 servings to meet daily requirements. At the bottom of the pyramid are bread, cereal, rice and pasta; which means you should eat 6 to 11 servings per day. In the old pyramid, the ideal calorie level for women, children and elderly is about 1,600, while for teenage boys and girls it should be between 2,200 to 2,800.
New Pyramid
The new food pyramid is updated to emphasize a balanced diet without having to count calories. It also has six fod groups instead of the five from the old pyramid. Instead of the rows from top to bottom, the pyramid is now divided into columns. On the leftmost column belong grains, especially whole grains in which the daily recommended amount is 6 ounces. Next are vegetables which should equal to 2 ½ cups per day.
After that are fruits which should equal to 2 cups daily. Next is a thin column that belongs to oils which should be consumed sparingly. then milk or dairy which should amount to 3 cups daily. Last are meat and beans which should not be more than 5. 5 ounces daily. It even has a recommendation of a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise for adults daily, and 60 minutes minimum for children.
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