The Healthy Eating Pyramid is a pictorial depiction of the quantities of various foods that should be consumed daily for a healthy diet.
If each meal is scheduled in accordance with the healthy eating pyramid, you are more likely to meet your daily vitamin, mineral, carbohydrate, protein, and essential fat requirements.
The Five Layers of the Pyramid
From the bottom up, the layers of the healthy eating pyramid are different sizes and represent the five main food groups:
- Bread, cereal, potatoes, and other starchy foods.
- Fruit and veggies.
- Milk and dairy foods.
- Protein as meat, fish, eggs, and beans.
- Fats and sugars.
The rest of this article will go into more depth about these food groups.
1. Starchy foods
Carbohydrates should take up the first largest portion on your plate. You can choose from potatoes, rice, beans, bread, whole grains, cous cous, and pasta. Your body needs the carbs that these foods have in order to make energy. Carbohydrates also help keep your muscles healthy, keep your blood pressure in check, and lower your cholesterol.
2. Fruit and vegetables
Try to eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables every day. The key is to eat a lot of different things so that you get a good mix of vitamins and minerals every day. Why not try to put as many different colors as you can on your plate each time you eat?
3. Dairy foods
Dairy is in the middle of the food pyramid, so a small amount should be eaten at each meal. Choose from milk, cheese, yoghurt, butter, cream, and other products made from animal milk.
4. Proteins
Protein is important because it helps the body build and fix things. Since it’s in the middle of the pyramid, you should eat about the same amount at each meal. Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy products are all good sources of high-quality proteins. These are proteins that come from animals and are easier for the body to absorb. Grains, fruit, vegetables, peas, beans, nuts, and seeds are all good sources of low-quality proteins that count toward your daily needs.
5. Sugars and fats
At the top of the healthy food pyramid are fats and sugars. These are not necessary for a healthy diet, so you should only eat a small amount of them. Make sure you don’t eat too much of foods like cookies, chips, cakes, pastries, and other processed foods like pizza, ready-made meals, and pies, because they have a lot of calories but not much nutrition. Also, try to stay away from saturated fats, which usually come from animal sources like butter and meat. These fats can raise cholesterol and hurt your health.
Healthy fats: Fats provide energy, so they shouldn’t be completely cut out of the diet. The trick is to figure out which fats are good and which are bad. You should choose unsaturated fats like those found in olive oil, olives, peanuts, soy beans, and most vegetable oils instead of saturated fats.
