Weighing in on America's Eating Habits
Every five years, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) update dietary guidelines for smart nutritional choices, the basis for the familiar Food Guide Pyramid. Last revised in 2000, the Food Guide Pyramid is used by many Americans today as an aid in determining balanced, healthy food choices.
Recently, however, the pyramid has been under fire for not incorporating the latest research on nutrition. Critics often point to alternative food guidelines such as the Healthy Eating Pyramid and the Mediterranean-style diet as better models.
Problems with the pyramid
The Healthy Eating Pyramid was developed by Dr. Meir Stampfer, professor in the departments of epidemiology and nutrition and chair of the department of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Stemper served on the committee for the 2000 HHS and USDA guidelines but felt that the final recommendations were lacking necessary changes.
The Mediterranean diet is based on the dietary patterns of people from that region of the world. Though the incidence of heart disease and death rates in the Mediterranean region are considerably lower than that of the U.S., the American Heart Association (AHA) warns that not enough is known about the diet itself. It is possible that other lifestyle factors account for the lower deaths from heart disease in Mediterranean countries and "more studies should be done before advising people to follow an optimal Mediterranean diet," advises the AHA.
Problems with the Food Guide Pyramid arise not so much from what it says but in what it doesn't say. Created to be an easy reference, it oversimplifies food categories to the point of contributing to poor food choices, say critics.
How many carbs?
One point of contention is the recommended six to 11 daily servings of bread, cereal, rice and pasta, as suggested in the Food Guide Pyramid. Americans filling up on white rice, white bread and other refined grains meet the requirement. However, most nutrition experts now agree that whole grains are preferable to other carbohydrate choices, a distinction that is made in the Harvard's Healthy Eating Pyramid.
Another major difference is in the area of fat. At the tip of the Food Guide Pyramid, fats and oils are grouped with sweets in the "use sparingly" category. However, the Mediterranean diet and Healthy Eating Pyramid both suggest a much higher percentage of calories come from fat.
Get the skinny on fats
One important distinction is that the Healthy Eating Pyramid and Mediterranean diet guidelines suggest a reliance on monounsaturated fats from vegetable oils such as olive oil, as opposed to trans fats and saturated fats more common in American diets.
The Healthy Eating Pyramid goes so far as to group butter with red meats, sharing the tip of the pyramid with white grains and pasta, potatoes and sweets. The Mediterranean diet also includes little red meat.
It is likely that the next time the Food Guide Pyramid is revised it will undergo some significant changes, incorporating some of the components of other guidelines. Meanwhile, most dieticians and health care professionals continue to use the current model, supplementing it with additional information on good nutrition.
Popular Nutrition Models
The Food Guide Pyramid
Six to 11 servings of breads, cereal, rice and pasta per day
Three to five servings of vegetables per day and two to four servings of fruit
Two to three servings of dairy products such as milk, yogurt or cheese per day
Two to three daily servings of meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts or dry beans
Fats, oils, sweets:
use sparingly
The Healthy Eating Pyramid
Whole grain foods and vegetable oils are emphasized, as is physical activity and weight control
Vegetables in abundance; fruits two to three times a day
Nuts and legumes one to three times a day
Fish, poultry and eggs zero to two times per day
Dairy or calcium supplement one to two times a day
Red meat and refined grains are de-emphasized: use sparingly
A multivitamin and moderate daily alcohol intake are considered healthy options, unless contraindicated by the individual's condition
Mediterranean diet
Plenty of fruits, vegetables, breads and cereals, potatoes, beans, nuts and seeds
Emphasis on olive oil as a monounsaturated fat source
Dairy products, fish and poultry in low to moderate quantities; little red meat
Eggs zero to four times per week
Wine in low to moderate amounts
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