“The food pyramid is dead. Long live the plate!
The USDA today announced the latest attempt to conceptualize the government’s dietary advice in a way consumers can understand.
Half of the plate is made up of fruits and vegetables and the other half grains and protein, with the sections for vegetables and grains slightly bigger than those for fruits and protein. Off to the side is a cup representing milk or other dairy product.”
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I’m not sure this will have any observable effect on dietary habits of the American public, but simplifying nutrition recommendations is certainly a step in the right direction. The food pyramid (the previous model used to illuminate portion distribution) was unnecessarily complex and made patient teaching harder. I would print out the pyramid for my patients and they would immediately lose interest in what I was saying - a balanced diet seemed too complex and not for them.
This simple diagram will be a easier way for patient’s to reflect on their current diets and also to model future meals.
Of course, I love the advice Michael Pollan (well-know food intellectual, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma) gives “Eat food. Not too Much. Mostly plants.”
He offers an impressively simple solution to one our nation’s more challenging questions - what do we need to eat to be optimally heathy? Or for most people, what to we need to eat to be healthier than we are right now.
