The Food Guide Pyramid is an outline of what to eat each day based on the Dietary Guidelines. It's not a rigid prescription but a general guide that lets you choose a healthful diet that's right for you.

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 Pyramid calls for eating a variety of foods to get the nutrients you need and at the same time the right amount of calories to maintain healthy weight.

Use the Pyramid to help you eat better every day. Start with plenty of breads, cereals, rice, pasta, vegetables, and fruits. Add 2-3 servings from the milk group and 2-3 servings from the meat group. Remember to go easy on fats, oils, and sweets, the foods in the small tip of the Pyramid.

Determining your caloric requirements: The number of food servings a person needs depends upon his or her sex, age, activity level, and body type. Each individual can use these personal parameters to determine the amount of food he or she should consume in an average day. The USDA has set the following average calorie levels as desirable for the following groups.

• 1,600 calories a day for children, inactive women, and older adults.
• 2,200 calories a day for moderately active women, inactive men, and teenage girls.
• 2,800 calories a day for teenage boys, active women, and active men.
• 2,200 to 2,800 calories a day for pregnant and breastfeeding women.

These are ballpark figures for calculating each person’s requirements. After considering all factors, you might want to place yourself somewhere between these benchmarks.

Converting calories to food group servings: Once you know your daily caloric need, you can convert that to servings from the food pyramid by multiplying your calorie allowance by the following recommended percentages.

• 60% calories from carbohydrates
• 10% calories from protein
• 30% calories from fat (one-third or less from saturated fats)

Note: If you are adjusting your fat downward, increase your carbohydrates by the same percentage.

Serving comparisons by three calorie levels (USDA):

 

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 One Serving?
The amount of food that counts as one serving is listed below. If you eat a larger portion, count it as more than 1 serving.

For example, a dinner portion of spaghetti would count as 2 or 3 servings of pasta.

Be sure to eat at least the lowest number of servings from the five major food groups listed below. You need them for the vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, and protein they provide. Just try to pick the lowest fat choices from the food groups. No specific serving size is given for the fats, oils, and sweets group because the message is USE SPARINGLY.

Milk, Yogurt, and Cheese 1 cup of milk or yogurt 1 1/2 ounces of natural cheese 2 ounces of process cheese

Meat, Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans, Eggs, and Nuts 2-3 ounces of cooked lean meat, poultry, or fish 1/2 cup of cooked dry beans, 1 egg, or 2 tablespoons of peanut butter count as 1 ounce of lean meat

Vegetable 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables 1/2 cup of other vegetables, cooked or chopped raw 3/4 cup of vegetable juice

Fruit 1 medium apple, banana, orange 1/2 cup of chopped, cooked, or canned fruit 3/4 cup of fruit juice

Bread, Cereal, Rice, and Pasta 1 slice of bread 1 ounce of ready-to-eat cereal 1/2 cup of cooked cereal, rice, or pasta