Best Food Pyramid Serving Size

In the new versions of the food pyramid serving size is not the most important. Let’s check out what is!

In general, when you eat according to the Healthy Eating Pyramid or the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, you choose more foods from the bottom of the pyramid (vegetables, whole grains) and less form the top (red meat, refined grains).

You’re quite free to choose the exact amount of calories depending on your sex, age, and lifestyle.

The most important to focus on what kind of food you eat, more even than on how much you eat.

What you do is you cut back on food at the top of the pyramid and replace it with food from the bottom.

So when you eat more according to the advices in a food pyramid serving size is not what you should focus on.

Instead make sure most of your meals include whole grain foods, such as oatmeal, whole-wheat bread and brown rice, instead of refined grains in the form of, for example, white bread and white rice.

You choose good fats such as plant oil (preferably olive oil, canola oil, soybean oil, corn oil and sunflower seed oil) over animal fats (butter) and of course, avoid trans fats. You also get good quality fat from nuts which are to prefer over starchy snacks such as potato chips.

Non-starchy vegetables are an excellent replacement for potatoes and pasta and should be eaten daily.

You can easily replace red meat and get excellent quality protein from beans and lentils or fish, poultry and eggs.

Dairy products are near the top of the pyramid meaning that you shouldn’t consume too much of this kind of food. Calcium is necessary for the bones, but dairy is not the only source, many vegetables and beans also contain calcium.

When you want something sweet, try fresh fruit smoothies instead of sugary drinks and avoid pastries as much as possible. You will soon find delicious alternatives in the form of fresh fruits in different forms.

To make sure you get all the micronutrients (vitamins and trace element) you need you may consider adding a nutritional supplement to your diet.

And you may even enjoy a glass of wine – or two, a day. It has many healthy benefits for many people, but it's not for everyone. If you don’t drink there is no reason to start, the health benefits of wine can be achieved in other ways.

So you see, when you eat according to a food pyramid serving size comes secondary, getting the right type of food is what matters.

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