Military Off Duty, Army Health, military fitness, army physical fitness - Army Times

What you should be eating

The Agriculture Department’s food guide pyramid — called MyPyramid — is helping Americans, young and old, to better understand how to eat healthfully, dietitians say.

The pyramid features vertical bands (rather than the old horizontal pyramid sections) in six different colors to represent different food groups and types. Orange equals grains, green is for vegetables, red is for fruits, blue represents dairy, purple is meat and beans, and yellow stands for oils.

Along the side of the pyramid, a drawing depicts a person climbing a set of steps to match the new slogan, “Steps to a Healthier You,” which is meant to encourage physical activity.

Perhaps the most important feature of the new pyramid: By plugging in personal information, such as age, gender and levels of physical activity, you can get a nutrition plan that’s tailored for you.

“It’s more personalized,” Marisa Moore, an Atlanta registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, said of the new pyramid and its Web site, which replaced the old, once-size-fits-all pyramid that had been in use since 1992.

The USDA is appealing not only to adults, but also to children to clean up their diets, posting kid-friendly materials on the new pyramid Web site — http://www.mypyramid.gov — to help parents or teachers help children eat more healthfully.

In general, the guidelines recommend consuming 2 cups of fruits and 2½ cups of vegetables daily, 3 ounces of whole-grain foods, 3 cups of low-fat or nonfat milk or other dairy foods, and about 5 ounces of meat and beans for protein.

Oils should be used sparingly, and the guidelines offer maximum amounts — 5 teaspoons, for example. The pyramid also suggests a maximum number of calories from “extras” such as sugars and solid fats.

Noralyn Mills, a Baltimore dietitian and another American Dietetic Association spokeswoman, called the new guidelines — introduced in 2005 — more realistic than the old ones. And they’re more user-friendly, she added.

One important change is to list measurements in cups instead of servings, she said.

“People have an idea what a cup is, they can visualize a cup,” Mills said, adding, “I think there is a lot more usage of the pyramid than before.”

The new guidelines are meant to incorporate the latest in nutritional science, according to the USDA.

“It’s a little more motivational for people,” Moore said. Besides alerting people that their diet should include specific amounts of grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy products, meats and beans, each personalized pyramid tells them how many “discretionary calories” they can eat per day for fats, sugars and oils.

“You are able to meet all your nutritional needs without the guesswork,” said Moore, although she advises those with diabetes and other health conditions to seek the help of a registered dietitian.

Hunger-busters

MORE:

Getting fat in Iraq

Vegetarians find few choices in mess hall