On June 2, a colorful plate replaced the food pyramid as the official icon representing U.S. Dietary Guidelines, and that's generally good news. But there are some conceptual chips and cracks in this new dinnerware. Â Overall, I fear another opportunity has been lost to give Americans the best up-to-date information about what constitutes an ideal diet.
First, the positives. The icon, called "MyPlate," (http://www.choosemyplate.gov/) easily surpasses the widely reviled "MyPyramid," the confusing, rainbow-hued version of the food pyramid that the U.S. Department of Agriculture unveiled in 2005. The new, simple, plate-shaped graphic is split into four sections: red for fruits, green for vegetables, purple for protein and orange for grains. A separate blue section, shaped like a drinking glass, represents dairy foods. I like the fact that the green section is largest, providing a visual reminder of the most fundamental nutrition truth: Vegetables, the foundation of a healthy diet, should fill most of a plate at every meal.
The MyPlate graphic also lists general dietary principles, and I agree with nearly all of them. I particularly like "Drink water instead of sugary drinks." If Americans would heed that advice alone, the obesity and diabetes epidemics would begin to abate overnight.
To get the specifics, the user clicks on the various sections to read a list of recommended foods (apparently, this graphic works best on computers, but there is also a printable version). The lists are quite detailed and, again, I agree with most of it. However, there are serious flaws:
In the "Fruits" section, no distinction is made between fruit juices and fruits -- a half cup of fruit juice is listed as equivalent to a half cup of fruit. This ignores the fact that the glycemic load -- an indication of how quickly a food is converted to blood sugar -- is far higher in fruit juices than in fruits. Metabolically, the difference between a glass of filtered, pasteurized apple juice and a glass of soda is minor. It is far better to eat the whole fruit, as the accompanying fiber dramatically slows digestion, leading to more stable blood sugar and a longer-lasting feeling of fullness that can help prevent overeating.
Similarly, in the "Grains" section, there's no difference cited between intact grains -- I term these "true whole grains" -- and grains that are ground into flour. As with fruits, keeping grains intact, rather than pulverized, slows digestion and stabilizes blood sugar.
In the "Protein" section, I appreciate the fact that fish is emphasized -- we are urged to eat 8 ounces per week, which would help Americans improve their woefully deficient consumption of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. But it's unfortunate to see swordfish among the recommended species. Not only is it vastly overfished, but as a predator species, it tends to bioaccumulate toxins such as mercury. I recommend striped bass, wild Alaskan salmon, herring, sardines, anchovies, mackerel and Alaskan halibut, as these meet the dual criteria of abundant stocks and low toxic residues.
In the "Dairy" section, I'm disappointed to see a strong emphasis on low-fat and fat-free choices. This advice is becoming outdated, as new research has revealed full-fat dairy does not pose a heart-health risk, and may offer unique benefits.
Eating according to the dictates of MyPlate would almost certainly improve the average American's nutritional profile, but the Anti-Inflammatory Food Pyramid remains the superior choice. It provides abundant vitamins, minerals and fiber; facilitates stable blood-sugar levels; and helps to control the inappropriate inflammation that underlies many of the developed world's chronic diseases including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, heart conditions and many cancers. Until the USDA incorporates all of the latest science in its official recommendations, I encourage you to rely on the Anti-Inflammatory Food Pyramid as the most comprehensive graphic guide to how to eat for optimal health.
Andrew Weil, M.D., invites you to join the conversation: become a fan on Facebook, follow him on Twitter, and check out his Daily Health Tips Blog. Dr. Weil is the founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and the editorial director of www.DrWeil.com.
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The earlies system was called mypyramid. Our main issue with the mypyramid system was that no water was included.
As a recent addition to mypyramid we at Center Palitra Pitania liked the physical activity.
Now comes along – MyPlate.gov
First. A plate is not bad. But look at the UK version already being promoted for many years.
And you see there are only 5 food elements, no physical activity. Yes, instead of adding water to the overall presentation and getting to seven elements, one element got taken off the logo – fat.
But looking deeper, reading the announcements why the logo was changed the entire approach seems like an oversimplification and a step backward.
It was stated that the mypyramid system was too complex, there was too much information. Center Palitra Pitania disagrees. Anybody can understand and study the mypyramid system in about one hour. It is simple to understand. Maybe only for kids the plate is a better way.
It was stated that in the mypyramid system was too much information. Center Palitra Pitania disagrees. For sure now taking off fat (and yes there are healthy and good fat types and better to count something than to omit something) is a simplification.
Hans,
http://www.palitra-pitania.ru/news_eng/?lang=en
Daniel Santibanez, registered dietitian and consultant to the food and beverage industry including The Coca-Cola Company.
Having poured over the new Food Plate site, I generally like it and think it's a step above the old pyramid. But in addition to the points Dr. Weil points out above, I think the Food Plate site's calculation of diet parameters based upon inputs about weight, age etc incorrectly accounts for lean muscle mass (like BMI), as is discussed in "Yes, Choose My Food Plate!" http://wp.me/pA04z-JK
Those of you who would like to watch Dr.Weil weigh in one other health matters, check out his interview with Kevin Rose here: "Dr. Weil and Kevin Rose Talk Health" http://wp.me/pA04z-pB
The people who know what they're talking about are working with athletes or otherwise on the ground getting real results.
While I agree with Dr. Weil that this is a huge step forward, there was one glaring omission: healthy fat. It is very surprising that Dr. Weil did not list this as the number one issue with MyPlate. he knows as well as anybody that one cannot function optimally without sufficient healthy dietary fats. Maybe for the next version, they can cut down the amount of grains and add a small section for healthy fats.
Bonnie Minsky
Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist
nutritionalconcepts.com
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02995/Dr-Weil-Anti-Inflammatory-Food-Pyramid.html
Above info from following study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition - http://www.ajcn.org/content/78/3/640S.long
From what the scientific literature says it doesn't look as though a high amount of fat is needed. As long as 2-3% of total calories come from alpha-linolenic and linoleic acid and 100-300mg of DHA is obtained then human beings can function optimally on this.
i'm just reading raj patel '' stuffed and starved '' . i highly recommend it. he also has a lot of blogs on the subject on his site .
http://rajpatel.org/
We gotta keep subsidizing cereal (grain/corn) production to keep the right folks pockets greased, and insure that the US continues to have a high-demand export.
Because they were using so much corn to make [high fructose] corn syrup, as well as ethanol, the cost increased. Meanwhile, because cane sugar was being used less and less, its cost decreased. Thus, at this time, it is more economical for them to use cane sugar.
I would imagine that if sugar increased in price once more (whenever that happens), they would switch back to fructose.
That's why I think the nutritional guidance logo should be a plan view of a typical supermarket. A green band along the outer "ring" of the store indicates that the foods found here (mainly produce and proteins) are good choices. A red rectangle over most of the aisles in the middle of the store means that the items found here (mainly processed foodstuffs) are NOT good choices. A single green stripe down one aisle indicates that grains, beans, nuts, and seeds are good choices.
A map of a supermarket that guides people to the better choices. That's the kind of logo that will work for Americans, and once they get the hang of avoiding the junk food aisles, then they can graduate to more detailed guidance similar to the linked "Anti-Inflammatory Food Pyramid", which doesn't necessarily have to be expressed in graphical form.
we need to cut out all processed grains that strip out the nutrients.
Fruit drinks are sugar drinks and encourage bad habits,water is for drinking!
90% of our supermarkets shelve space goes to highly processed corn sweetened products.
this is the reason we are so obese.
the plate size is too large,we consume way to many calories in one meal.
...grains in their natural state are not human food...
...the glaring reality is that grains are a non-food, we continue to produce as food for every reason besides health... and we've paid a generation (or three) or "experts" to tell us we need it.
Grains feed most of the world. There aren't any other options.
Attempts to change eating habits have seldom if ever worked.