Food Pyramid Meal Planning - Healthy Eating Tips for Proper Nutrition
The Food Pyramid is a pyramid shaped chart that has been devised by the Food and Drug Administration in order to explain their nutritional intake recommendations. Food pyramid meal planning involves using the food pyramid to determine your daily meals to help ensure you get the right amount of vitamins and minerals you need to remain healthy. Further, food pyramid meal planning is an act that allows you to diversify your foods to keep your diet balanced and to enable you get enough foods from each defined food group. Food groups in the food pyramid include grains, fruits, meats and beans, vegetables, and milk products.
The New Food Pyramid
The Food and Drug Administration created a brand new food pyramid in 2005 with changes to the original food pyramid concept. Changes from the former food pyramid include an emphasis on exercise, and an increase in the amounts of vegetables, whole grains and fruits one should eat. The former pyramid only focused on grains, dairy, fruit, and meats; the FDA adapted the pyramid in order to reflect findings in various nutritional studies which revealed improved nutritional needs. It’s important to note that the food pyramid is merely a guide, and that nutritional intake needs will vary between adults and children. According to the FDA, the amount of any food group you require on a daily basis depends upon your sex, age, and the amount of physical activity you engage in: the recommendations here include suggestions for individuals that engage in at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day.
Food Pyramid Meal Planning: Milk Products and Grains
Half of all grains consumed daily should consist of whole grain products. Children should consume 1 ½ to 2 ½ ounces of whole grains daily; adolescents and women should consume 3 ounces daily, and men should consume 4 ounces of whole grains each day. Meanwhile, provided that milk is tolerable, children should get at least two cups of milk or milk products every day. Adolescents, men, and women can consume as much as three cups of milk products each day.
Food Pyramid Meal Planning: Fruits and Vegetables
Children should consume roughly 1 to 1 ½ cups of fruit on a daily basis; while adolescents should consume 1 ½ to 2 cups of fresh fruit every day. Women and men can get adequate nutrients from fruit if they consume at least two cups of fresh fruit daily. When it comes to vegetables, children should be getting at least one cup of vegetables and as much as two cups is a permissible amount of vegetables for children. Adolescents, men, and women require as many as 2 ½ cups to three cups daily.
Food Pyramid Meal Planning: Meat and Beans
When making meat selections, it is advised that the meats you choose are of the lean variety; this will help to reduce the amount of fats you consume. Children require 2 to 4 ounces of meat daily; adolescents require 5 to 6 ounces daily, and women and men require roughly 5 ½ ounces to 6 ½ ounces of meats and/or beans each day.
Resources
Women’s Heart Foundation for a definition of the food pyramid at:
https://www.womensheart.org/content/Help/glossary.asp
Kids Health for information on planning meals based on the food pyramid at:
https://kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy/food/pyramid.html#
USDA States Department of Agriculture