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Home foodpyramidsBlogThings to know about food pyramids
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A food pyramid can act as your guide to healthy eating by providing you with necessary nutrition facts that will ensure a healthy diet filled with the needed vitamins, minerals, proteins, etc. There are certain things that you consume on a daily basis that should be taken in moderation, things such as fat, calories and sugar. A food pyramid will not only guide you on what foods to eat, but also the quantity; this is done through its serving size suggestions. The foods that are located at the top of the pyramid should appear less in what you consume daily; therefore it is safe to say that the ones at the bottom of the pyramid should take up more of your daily diet. The items at the bottom are whole wheat foods and other whole grains; these can range from cereals, breads, biscuits, pastas etc. Whole grains are a good source of fibre and they also supply minerals and vitamins because they go through less processing when the by-products such as whole wheat flour, are being made.
On the next rung of our pyramid ladder are the items that are rich in such vitamins as vitamin C and vitamin A, these items are none other than the fruits and vegetables. These nutrient rich foods are low in sodium and fat and high in potassium and fibre and the serving size that is recommended by food pyramids for fruits and vegetables each day are 2-4 servings and 3-5 servings respectively. If you are planning to substitute the fruit with fruit juice, then you should ensure that it is 100% fruit juice and not just concentrate. Also be mindful of the amount of servings that are present in each container because these bottled fruit juices contain added sugar and you do not want to over do that. Meat poultry and fish is up next on the agenda because the aim is to get a balanced healthy meal. While the meat is necessary for the protein and iron, you should consume it moderately and according to the recommended serving size, which is 2-3 servings daily of no more than 2-3 ounces at each time. Peas and beans also fall into this category so feel free to add them to the meal.
The serving sizes that are recommended by the food pyramid for dairy products varies and is dependent on the group that you fall in, If you are pregnant or lactating or a young adult or teenager, it is recommended that you get at least 3 servings each day, while the average person should have about 2 servings for the day. When most people hear dairy they think milk, then they start to stray off into ice-cream, cheese, butter and other stuff that contains calories, sodium and sugar. It is not recommended that you consume too much of these by products because the additives are plenty and will affect the balance of your diet, try to have them in moderations or find alternatives such as yogurt and skim milk cheese.
The top of the pyramid is where all the goodies are and it is a task to just simply leave them alone. But we have to understand that the level of sugar and fat in these items are very high and we have already consumed enough natural sugars in the other items coming up the pyramid to complete our diet.
With the use of your food pyramid to maintain a healthy diet, you can now get your self a BMI calculator to help you to further decide if you need to eat more or less of a certain food group or of you should continue on your same trend. The BMI calculator calculates your body mass index by analysing your height versus your current weight and then tells you if you are overweight, underweight or if your weight is normal based on your height.
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