Goodbye Food pyramid

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cp418
cp418 Member Posts: 7,079

 The pursuit of good nutrition has become a whole lot simpler. Recently the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) replaced the MyPyramid food guidance system with MyPlate as the official model for healthy dietary choices. The recommendations for what should be on your plate haven't changed, but a shift in emphasis and a new illustration promise to make the guidelines easier to visualize, follow and remember.

The USDA offers the following recommendations to "build your plate": 

  • Half of your plate should be fruits and vegetables.
  • The other half should be divided between grains and proteins. At least half of your grains should be whole grains.
  • Proteins should come from a variety of sources. For instance, choose seafood twice a week, replace meat with beans some days and go for small portions of lean meat and poultry.
  • Switch to skim or 1 percent milk and other low-fat dairy products, such as cheese and yogurt.
  • Reduce your salt intake by checking food labels and choosing foods with the lowest sodium. Aim for less than 1,500 milligrams of sodium daily.
  • Avoid foods and beverages containing added sugar. Drink water and choose fruit for dessert.
  • Save foods high in saturated fats or solid fats, such as cakes, pizza and hot dogs, as an occasional treat.

Comments

  • 3monstmama
    3monstmama Member Posts: 1,447
    edited March 2012

    hmmmm, interesting.....I will have trouble with that reading labels for sodium...we don't eat processed foods and I cook from scratch so none of my food has labels on it!

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited March 2012

    3mon, if that's the case, then you have TOTAL control over how much salt you use! I haven't had "added salt" in my diet for 18 years due to out of control high blood pressure. Even use unsalted butter when I get real butter, which I rarely do.

    This is way easier to follow than that stupid pyramid!! I mean REALLY, who eats 5-7 helpings of breads a day???? (or whatever that number was....)

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