What are the 3 layers of the food pyramid?

The USDA Food Guide Pyramid and MyPyramid

The Food Guide Pyramid was a recognizable nutrition tool that was introduced by the USDA in 1992. It was shaped like a pyramid to suggest that a person should eat more foods from the bottom of the pyramid and fewer foods and beverages from the top of the pyramid.

The Food Guide Pyramid displayed proportionality and variety in each of five groups of foods and beverages, which ascended in horizontal layers starting from the base and moving upward toward the tip: breads, cereals, pasta and rice; fruits and vegetables; dairy products; eggs, fish, legumes, meat and poultry; plus alcohol, fats and sugars. The 1992 USDA Food Guide Pyramid is shown in Figure 1-1.

In 2005, the USDA introduced MyPyramid, an updated version of the Food Guide Pyramid. Food groups were depicted in ascending vertical bands that emphasized the right proportions of food groups. An image of a person walking up a flight of stairs flanked the pyramid to emphasize activity. Instead of servings, quantities were measured in cups and ounces. The 2005 USDA Food Guide Pyramid is shown in Figure 1-2.

Other food guide pyramids followed, including the Mediterranean and Asian. Each of the ethnic food guide pyramids added, deleted, or substituted culturally correct foods with those in the USDA Food Guide Pyramid. For example, yogurt and goat milk products appeared in the Mediterranean Food Guide Pyramid, since intolerance to dairy products from cows is prevalent in this region of the world. Likewise, the Asian Food Guide Pyramid included soy products to replace the nutrients that are normally found in dairy products.

Additional food guide pyramids have been developed for children, seniors, vegetarians and a number of other groups to meet their specific nutritional needs. Yet, in 2011, after six years, the USDA replaced the Food Guide Pyramid with the nutrition guide MyPlate. Food guide pyramids are still used in other parts of the world and by some specialty groups.

Morsel

“If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health.”

—Hippocrates (Greek physician, 460 –c. 370 BC)

The Asian Food Guide Pyramid

The Asian Food Guide Pyramid was created in 2000 by Oldways Preservation & Exchange Trust. It depicts foods and beverages that replicate the traditional Asian diet for good health and longevity. It is shaped like a pyramid to show the recommended proportions of foods and beverages—heavier consumption at the bottom of the pyramid and lighter consumption at the peak.

While the USDA replaced MyPyramid with MyPlate in 2010, the Asian Food Guide Pyramid still reinforces the choices that are the foundation of a healthy Asian diet. The Asian Food Guide Pyramid is shown in Figure 12-9.

The Asian food pyramid portrays a mostly plant-based low-fat Asian diet, with a strong foundation that is built on daily physical activity. Rice, rice products, noodles, breads, millet, corn and other whole grains comprise the next layer, topped by a substantial layer of fruits, legumes, nuts and seeds and a sizeable amount of vegetables. This layer is topped by a smaller layer of vegetable oils, followed by fairly equal layers of fish and shellfish, eggs and poultry, sweets and meat, with meat at the pinnacle of the pyramid.

Daily servings of grains, fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and vegetable oils are recommended, with optional daily servings of dairy, fish and shellfish. Eggs, poultry and fish are recommended weekly, and meat is recommended monthly. Eight glasses of water or tea are recommended daily, and sake, wine and beer are recommended in moderation [28].

Vegetarian Food Guides

A vegetarian food guide pyramid developed by Loma Linda University includes recommended servings of relevant food groups based on energy needs for both vegans and LOV. USDA's MyPlate provides resources for vegetarians, including alternative protein sources, tips for vegetarians, and the Vegetarian Nutrition Resource List. Additionally, the General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists established the vegetarian MyPlate, a vegetarian version of the USDA MyPyramid; a vegan MyPlate is also available from the Vegetarian Resource Group. A Japanese vegetarian food guide has also been created for both the general public and the health professionals to promote adequate intakes of all nutrients (Figure 1).

The USA Food Guide Pyramid – Agreement and Controversy

The current USA food guide pyramid, which was introduced in 1992, is presently being revised to match the concurrent revision of the dietary guidelines for Americans. Among the criticisms of this pyramid are opinions that it oversimplifies the nutrition message. According to Willett and Stampfer, writing in Scientific American in 2003, the pyramid is “grossly flawed.” They wrote: “By promoting the consumption of all complex carbohydrates and eschewing fats and oils, the pyramid provides misleading guidance.” They argued conversely, that not all fats are “bad,” and that complex carbohydrates are not universally “good.” Their suggested revision encouraged the consumption of “healthy fats” and avoidance of refined carbohydrates, butter, and red meat. Their revised pyramid retained whole-grain foods at the base, together with plant-derived oils, many of them from grains, e.g., from corn (maize), canola, sunflower, and peanut. The use of fats containing trans unsaturated fatty acids, which are formed in partially hydrogenated liquid vegetable oil when converted to a solid fat, and then used in firm margarines, baked products, and fried foods, is not recommended. Nuts and legumes are retained halfway up their pyramid. Foods high in complex carbohydrates such as white rice, white bread, pasta, and potatoes are placed at the apex, with the recommendation: “Use sparingly.” These authors do not fully explain that fiber content and resistant starch are not greatly dissimilar for whole-grain and “white” (refined) foods. However, they do emphasize that “the best way to avoid obesity is to limit your total calories.” Furthermore, they admit in conclusion that “uncertainties still cloud our understanding of the relation between diet and health.”

The Oldways recommendations reinforce the concept of distinguishing between sources of fats and oils by recommending the greater consumption of oils from grains and nuts. However, the Oldways recommendations do not relegate the consumption of complex carbohydrates to the apex of the pyramid.

2.3 The Food Guide Pyramid

The development of the USDA Food Guide Pyramid spans over six decades. The first National Nutrition Conference, prompted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was held in 1941. As a result of this conference, the USDA developed Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) and specified caloric intakes and essential nutrients. In 1943, the USDA announced the ‘Basic Seven’ which was a special modification of the nutritional guidelines to alleviate the shortage of food supplies during the Second World War. The seven categories included milk, vegetables, fruit, eggs, all meat, cheese, fish, and poultry, cereal and bread, and butter. To simplify, the ‘Basic Four’ was introduced in 1956 and continued until 1979; categories included milk, vegetable and fruit, meat, and grain. With the rise of chronic diseases, the USDA addressed the roles of unhealthy foods and added a fifth group in the late 1970s: fats, sweets, and alcoholic beverages to be consumed in moderation. Although the USDA’s food guide, A Pattern for Daily Food Choices, was published annually beginning in the 1980s, it was not well known. Beginning in 1988, the USDA began to represent the Guidelines graphically to convey the messages of variety, proportionality, and moderation. The Food Guide Pyramid was released in 1992 and in 1994 the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act required all grocery items to have a nutritional label.

8.4.3.7 Step up the Grains and Pulses

Whole grains, at the base of all food pyramids, are popular for delivering more taste and offering widely perceived health properties. Increasingly, whole grains take a higher share in total consumption of grain products. All types of grains are good sources of complex carbohydrates, some vitamins and minerals, but whole grains in particular can be an important part of a healthy diet. Being high in fibre, and helping to feel full and satisfied, may help to maintain a healthy body weight.

Whole grains are linked to a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers and other health problems. Unless you have specific intolerances or another reason to cut back, many dietary guidelines recommend to make them a part of the diet.

Introduction

During the twentieth century, nutritional scientists developed dietary standards, dietary guidelines, food pyramids, recommended dietary allowances, and reference daily intakes. However, during the past few decades, nutritionists have been more concerned with food security and safety, malnutrition, and diet–health linkages. They have emphasized that ample quantities of vital nutrients should be available to everyone throughout the year. Broadly, these nutrients are categorized into macronutrients and micronutrients. Among macronutrients, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates are important, whereas vitamins and minerals constitute the group of chemical compounds known as micronutrients. Micronutrients are responsible for regulating various metabolic pathways, and their deficiencies lead to drastic health disparities (McGuire and Beerman, 2007).

Food security is often conceptualized in the context of food energy or calorie intake; however, it is now recognized that a large segment of the world’s population, especially in developing countries, consumes food that is deficient in micronutrients such as iron and iodine. Reduction in micronutrient deficiencies can contribute significantly to improving health, productivity, and the well-being of humans. Micronutrient deficiency, also known as “hidden hunger,” is an aggravating factor for health status and quality of life, affecting more than half of the world’s population (Long et al., 2007; Mayer et al., 2008). Micronutrient deficiency disorders exert drastic effects in pregnant and lactating women due to their higher demands for nutrients. These disorders can be lethal for neonates as well (Adu-Afarwuah et al., 2008).

The current situation calls for immediate action, especially in developing countries, to address these micronutrient deficiencies before they reach epidemic proportions. They can be overcome by following diverse strategies, such as food-based dietary modules. However, these strategies require thorough knowledge of the nutrient sources and their accessibility/availability for humans. Among these strategies, food fortification is practically more applicable and has drawn considerable attention from governmental and health agencies. The success of food fortification programs lies in the selection of vehicle and fortificant. Ideally, a food consumed by most of the population should be chosen as a vehicle, and the programs should be designed in such a way as to include high-risk groups. In developing economies, fortification of cereal products is popular because of high population coverage (World Health Organization (WHO), 1999). Multiple fortification of whole wheat flour with novel iron sources is gaining popularity to overcome micronutrient malnutrition in developing countries. Economic and nutritional aspects of such fortification programs require that the fortificants added to the flour be evaluated for their effect on the native components of the food, sensory attributes of the food, and their availability in the final product during processing of the food (Akhtar et al., 2010).

Cereals are the best vehicle for fortification in most developing countries because 95% of the population consumes cereals as a dietary staple. These are also relatively inexpensive to grow and are consumed worldwide by all economic classes. However, versatility in preparation and uses makes them more effective in these strategies (Ranum, 2001). Mineral deficiencies can be overcome with the use of fortification programs. Globally, whole wheat flour serves as a dietary staple for millions of people, especially in Asian countries. Thus, mineral fortification of whole wheat flour should be mandatory to overcome the problem of hidden hunger in the developing world.

21.2.1 Proteins

Along with poultry, fish and eggs, meat is categorized in the protein food group in the food guide pyramid (Lachance and Fisher, 2005). Meat is a fundamental source of essential amino acids, since it contains an abundance of proteins with high biological value. The nine amino acids which are indispensable for human nutrition are tryptophan, threonine, leucine, isoleucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, valine and histidine. Tyrosine and cystine also perform critical roles in human nutrition and should be included in a nutritional assessment of food proteins. Most meat and meat products contain high levels of these essential amino acids and of tyrosine and cystine.

The consumption of red meat has been associated with colorectal cancer in many, although not all, epidemiological studies. There is some evidence that the risk of colorectal cancer increases if a red meat derived protein is consumed twice a day or more (MacIntosh and Le Leu, 2001). There is a potential value to examining long-term meat consumption, assessing its link to the risk of cancer and reviewing the evidence that prolonged high consumption of red meat may increase the risk of colorectal cancer (Chao et al., 2005). However, since few studies have examined the risk in relation to long-term meat intake or the association of meat with rectal cancer, the idea that the concentration of meat protein in a diet determines the cancer risk is still controversial.

20.3.3 Healthy habits for diet and physical activity

Weight loss programmes should also be evaluated in terms of the nutritional quality of the diet that is recommended. Diets which contain foods from all of the main food groups in the Food Guide Pyramid (FGP) (United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 1996), are more likely to be nutritionally adequate and not deficient in the dietary reference intakes for the macro- and micronutrients (Institute of Medicine, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002). Programmes should also encourage participants to achieve at least 30 minutes of moderate-intense physical activity on four or more days a week, since physical activity, independent of body weight, has been related to morbidity and mortality.

10.5 Conclusion

Dietary fibre has been shown to provide numerous health benefits in both human and animal models, targeting, for example, maintenance of healthy cholesterol level, gut health, glycaemic index and satiety. It has therefore become imperative in modern food guide pyramids to include a sufficient amount of DF in the daily diet. Bread is considered a staple food across the globe and hence can act as a carrier of DF. However, addition of DF to bread can negatively affect its technological and organoleptic properties, and slight modifications may be required in processing parameters. Processing should be designed on the principle of ‘do no harm’, that is, care must be taken in the selection of processing methods and conditions such that these do not impair the physiological properties of the DF or compromise bread appeal.