Health Encyclopedia > Healthy Eating > The Food Groups and the Food Pyramid

The Food Groups and the Food Pyramid

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) created the Food Pyramid, which was updated to its current form in 1991. The most recent update represents a shift in thinking in American nutrition. Nutritionists used to recommend a diet high in protein. They now call for the average adult to consume less meat, while recommending greater consumption of vegetables, fruits, and grains.

The Food Pyramid, with its recommended servings, represents what the diet and nutrition experts consider to be the most solid, reliable, well-researched thinking to date. It provides a good model for healthy eating. The basic pyramid, developed by the USDA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is only one model, however. This pyramid has been adapted for ethnic preferences and there are now pyramids for the Mediterranean diet, the Asian diet and the Latin American diet. Other diets, such as the Hawaiian diet, can also be placed on a food pyramid.

How the Food Pyramid is constructed: The food pyramid has four levels.

1. At its base, the foundation of a healthy diet, are bread, grains, and cereals. They should compose the largest percentage of what you consume.

2. Next come two food groups (vegetables and fruits) which, together, occupy the second tier of the pyramid.

3. On an even higher, smaller level you find the next two food groups: the milk and meat groups.

4. In the small triangle at the top of the pyramid sit fats and oils and sugars.

How to use the Food Pyramid: Follow these simple steps.

1. Determine your calorie requirement

2. Translate your calorie requirement into daily food group allowances

3. Use the food group allowances to help you plan your meals and snacks

4. Record what you eat and check it against your daily allowances for each group

5. Use the Food Diary to record the areas where you are typically over your daily allowances

6. Try to alter the diet to be closer to your target

How to fine-tune the Food Pyramid: There are some challenges to using the USDA Food Pyramid. The first is that you need to put some distinction in your food choices, according to your particular dietary goals. For instance, if you are concerned about your weight, you will want to make your choices in the meat group from among those with lower fat content. The food pyramid doesn’t distinguish between hot dogs and lean chicken breast, so these distinctions are up to you.

After you have gone through this exercise a few times, you may find there are some foods that do not fit your diet plan. For instance, pizza may not be the best choice if you are trying to cut down on carbohydrates and fat, because it takes up too much of your daily allowance of each. If you don’t want to consume milk products, you may want to substitute additional carbohydrates.

Variations on the pyramid: These v

	Sedentary women, some older adults, and children	Sedentary men, moderately active women, and teen girls	Teen boys, active men and women
Food Group, Fat, Sugars	About 1,600 calories	About 2,200 calories	About 2,800 calories
Bread	6 servings	9 servings	11 servings
Vegetable	3 servings	4 servings	5 servings
Fruit	2 servings	3 servings	4 servings
Meat	2–3 servings	2–3 servings	2–3 servings
Milk	2–3 servings	2–3 servings	2–3 servings
Total fat	36 grams (20%) 53 grams (30%)	49 grams (20%) 73 grams (30%)	62 grams (20%) 93 grams (30%)
Total added sugars	24 grams (6 tsp)	32 grams (8 tsp)	44 grams (11 tsp)

Many foods are mixed: In reality, most foods contain mixtures of protein, carbohydrates, and fat, so you need to be a bit more creative with your estimating. If you eat an apple, it’s obvious you have eaten one serving of fruit. But if you eat a taco salad, your calculation becomes more complex. Depending on how it’s made, it could provide two servings of the vegetable group, one bread group, one meat group, and a significant portion of your daily fat. Eventually, you may be able to eyeball a meal and tell right away what you are getting, but in the beginning it’s a good idea to measure and calculate the equivalent amounts from each of the food groups. If you are eating a packaged, mixed food, the calculations have already been made for you.

Here are some examples of how this works:

Carbohydrates only: carrots, bananas, broccoli
Carbohydrates and protein: grains, breads, dried beans
Carbohydrates and fats: wheat germ, donut, pie
Protein only: liquid protein
Protein and fats: eggs, cheese, fish, meats of any kind
Fats only: oils, margarine
All three: milk, peanut butter, whole grains

Steps for the beginner: Follow these simple steps to determine where your calories are coming from.

1. Use either the food label from prepared foods or your recipe to determine the food groups and amounts contained in combination foods.

2. Figure out what portion you will consume.

3. Divide your portion (as a percent) into the total.

4. Record the amount from each food group.

5. Determine how this food fits into the food pyramid (number of servings it represents).

6. Record it in your food diary.

7. Stay flexible and strive for balance.

You can occasionally indulge in a small piece of dessert if you forgo other sources of sugar, fat, and refined flour that same day. This requires staying especially aware and honest with yourself about how much and how often you indulge. Trading off does not mean binging and fasting. That unhealthy pattern has no place in healthy eating. Trading off means making sure, over a period of several days, you achieve a balance that meets your nutritional requirements.

What counts as a serving? At first, figuring out what counts as a serving may seem a little tricky. Some servings are close to what people would typically consume at a meal; others are much smaller. For instance, a single serving of rice is only one-half cup whereas people are more likely to consume a cup. A hamburger bun is two to three servings (depending on size). This is not a problem as long as you factor this in before you plan your day’s servings. It is more important for people who are trying to keep a level blood sugar, which is achieved by distributing carbohydrates evenly throughout the day.

When calculating your servings of each food group, be sure to focus on the labels of packaged foods. They contain a great deal of valuable information. To learn more about food labels and how to read them, go to the section on Food Labels.

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The information presented in Foodnotes is for informational purposes only and was created by a team of U.S. registered dietitians and food experts. Consult your doctor, practitioner, and/or pharmacist for any health problem and before using any supplements, making dietary changes, or before making any changes in prescribed medications.