What is a healthy eating pyramid (food pyramid)?

Considering the basic principles of dietetics, the editors have repeatedly drawn your attention to the individual nature of any sports or health nutrition plan. Diet adjustments are made by a nutritionist or the practitioner himself, based on well-being and weight fluctuations. Thus, the nutrition plan necessarily takes into account the individual characteristics and needs of a particular person.

Unfortunately, this does not stop people from constantly looking for universal ways to lose weight or gain weight. The result is the emergence of a huge number of diets of varying degrees of danger. Some of them have been actively advertised since the 60s of the last century and contain errors not only in the calculation of portions, but also in the very principles of nutrition. We are talking about such a concept as a food pyramid.

General information and historical summary

The food pyramid is a systematic grouping of healthy eating concepts that emerged in the United States back in the 1960s. This system positions itself as the first nutritional guide to maintain a normal standard of living and keep BMI (body mass index) at a fixed level.

Like many other nutritional systems, it has not stood the test of time, and soon after its creation, innovations began to appear in the food pyramids that radically distinguished the food pyramid in its original form from the modern one.

The dietary system is based on the following principles:

1. The pyramid is based on the consumption of a large amount of liquid from different drinks, but preference should be given to mineral waters.
2. The second important step is carbohydrate intake, which should account for up to 60% of the total calorie intake from food... Complex carbohydrates are welcome.
3. Fruits and vegetables are traditionally considered the third step. In the classical system, these are the main sources of vitamins and essential nutrients. The amount of vegetables should prevail over the amount of fruit.
4. At the 4th stage are protein products, regardless of their origin.
5. The fifth step, depending on the variation of the pyramid itself, may contain red meat, oils, and fats. In some systems, sugar is there as a source of the most harmful carbohydrates (source - Wikipedia).

Outwardly, such a systematization of nutrition looks justified. It is more expedient in comparison with unsystematic eating, but in practice it requires serious individual adjustments.

The main mistakes of the pyramid

Before going into a detailed study of the principles of building nutrition based on the food pyramid, it is worth mentioning the key mistakes and shortcomings of the system. This does not mean that it is worth completely abandoning the principles of nutrition set forth in this system. You just need to take into account its disadvantages in order to compose a complete diet:

1. Lack of rationalization in calorie content. Food is measured in relative portions, which are recommended to be controlled approximately. This means that under the guise of the 1st portion, both 50 g of the product and 150 g of the product can be contained. For example, Wikipedia uses the designation of a portion of 100-150 g, which, when converted to 6-10 servings of grain products, will provide the body with 2500 kcal only from carbohydrates, not counting the rest of the food.
2. Using fast carbohydrates as your main food source. In modern pyramids there are amendments, according to which instead of classic cereals, only coarsely ground products are used. However, in the most common version of the nutritional pyramid, there is still bread and pastries in the bottom rung. Fast and medium carbohydrates are not able to keep you feeling full for long, which will lead to either weight gain or hunger stress.
3. Combining fruits and vegetables in one step. An abundant intake of fructose in excess of 50 g of fructose (250 g of fruit) will lead to fat deposition without an insulin response. At the same time, an abundant intake of fiber from vegetables will only benefit the body.
4. Lack of protein differentiation by their amino acid composition. Soy and meat products are in one step. But when replacing animal protein with plant protein, the body will not receive all the essential amino acids, which will lead to catabolism, deterioration of health, and sometimes - to hormonal changes associated with the abundant consumption of soy products.
5. Minimizing fat intake, regardless of source and type of acid. As practice shows, the right fats should be up to 20% of the total calories. Naturally, we are not talking about fries fat. But in the food pyramid, good fats are combined with bad fats.
6. Lack of control of the fluid source.
7. Including alcohol in acceptable foods.
8. Lack of individual adjustments. The pyramid offers the same range of foods to people with different metabolic rates, weights and needs.

As a result of this imbalance, a person will face problems such as:

1. Excess calories and excess weight.
2. Change in hormonal levels. This is especially due to the inclusion of soy products, which easily bind and amortize hormones. Phytoestrogens have the same effect.
3. Hunger while reducing calorie intake. Associated with the use of medium to fast carbohydrates at the base of the pyramid.
4. Eating disorders - from anorexia to bulimia.
5. Lack of protein.
6. Deficiency of polyunsaturated fatty acids.
7. Development of diseases of the nervous, cardiovascular, urinary, digestive systems (source - NCBI).

Depending on the subspecies of the pyramid, certain disadvantages can be eliminated or leveled. The Food Pyramid for Weight Loss (SciAm 2003) is considered to be the most correct pyramid, but even this requires individual adjustment and is not suitable for people involved in sports.

Steps of the food pyramid

Let's now dwell on this point in more detail, considering each stage separately.

Pyramid foundation

At the core of all types of food pyramid is serious physical activity. Usually, this is exactly what compensates for all the disadvantages regarding calorie content - "sports and weight control". Physical activity can be anything, because in the pyramid itself it is not spelled out.

But the main preference is given to aerobic exercises of medium intensity, because the pyramid itself is designed for the general population, and not for professional athletes.

Base of the pyramid

The food pyramid has always been based on carbohydrates. According to the recommendations for all types of pyramids - their number is approximately 65-75% of the total diet. With proper scalability, this amount of carbohydrates is appropriate, but intense exercise should shift the diet towards protein and fatty foods. The traditional pyramid uses cereals and baked goods.

Vitamin step

In this step, vegetables and fruits are combined. It is important to understand that when calculating the traditional pyramid, the calorie content of fruits is not taken into account.

So, if you are seriously thinking to follow the principles laid down in this system, the amount of fruit should be scaled down, according to the calorie content.

But the consumption of vegetables can be increased, because the fiber found in most of them helps digestion, prolongs the feeling of satiety and protects the gastrointestinal tract from overloading due to the consumption of large amounts of carbohydrates and proteins.

Protein step

According to the food pyramid sample of 1992, proteins are consumed regardless of the source in the amount of 200-300 g. When converted to protein, we get a figure of 50-60 g of protein, depending on the source and amino acid profile.

For normal functioning, the human body on average needs about 1 g of protein with a complete amino acid profile (or 2 g of vegetable protein) per kg of net weight.

Therefore, it is recommended to scale up the amount of protein by at least doubling its intake (or tripling for athletes). The scaling occurs by reducing the amount of carbohydrates from the lower stage.

Fats and Sugar

At the top stage, several product groups are combined at once:

1. Fast food products.
2. Foods containing glucose / sugar.
3. Fats.
4. Red meat.

Fast food products have an unbalanced or unclear composition, which makes them potentially harmful for maintaining BMI. The situation is the same with sugar. It is the source of the fastest carbohydrates that are absorbed almost instantly. When it comes to fats, you shouldn't completely eliminate them when using the healthy eating pyramid. It is only necessary to change the source of fatty foods so that omega-3 polyunsaturated acids predominate in the diet and there are no transport fats at all (source - PubMed).

When it comes to red meat, it is listed as a bad food for several reasons:

1. High fat content, which can reach 30 g per 100 g of tenderloin. It's easy to fix this by simply shedding excess fat while cooking.
2. The presence of transport amino acids that isolate harmful cholesterol from fatty deposits and help the deposition of cholesterol plaques. Unfortunately, few people think that these amino acids also transport good cholesterol - the direct precursor of testosterone.

Variety of food pyramid

The main benefit of the nutritional nutrition pyramid is the variety of foods. Both the classic and the more modern variations divide foods into very general categories, which allows different foods to vary according to their taste preferences.

This reduces the psychological stress from using a fixed food system: the food pyramid easily adjusts to one's own eating habits with the least loss for the budget and the body.

This fact also has a downside, since not all products from the same category are equally useful. The easiest way to explain it with the example of proteins:

1. Animal protein. Has the most complete amino acid profile, requiring less meat / eggs compared to other foods.
2. Milk protein. It has an inadequate amino acid profile and a higher rate of protein absorption. This means that dairy products are not ideal as they need to be consumed more and to compensate for the lack of amino acids from other sources.
3. Vegetable protein. They have an inadequate amino acid profile, therefore, they need supplementation with dietary supplements or animal protein from sports nutrition. You need to consume 2 times more vegetable protein in comparison with an animal for the normal functioning of the body.
4. Soy protein. It is rich in phytoestrogens and is therefore not recommended to be consumed in large quantities. Phytoestrogens have the ability to bind sex hormones, seriously affecting hormonal levels, and can even cause pathological abnormalities. For this reason, on the territory of the CIS, the turnover of soy protein has been seriously reduced from the late 90s to the present day.

Types of food pyramids

Since its inception, the food pyramid has gained widespread popularity as a nutritional system. However, dietetics as a science has gone far ahead, and individual nutritional adjustments have formed many subspecies of this system.

Is the food pyramid important for weight loss?

Despite the fact that the food pyramid has nothing to do with losing weight, it can be adapted for this purpose. In addition, the principles laid down in the food pyramid are suitable for the formation of healthy eating habits:

1. Separate food. In this regard, the system is not ideal, but a different number of servings of food means they will be taken at different times.
2. Portion control. This is not yet calorie control, but it is no longer uncontrolled eating.
3. Elimination of some harmful products. In particular, fast carbohydrates and foods rich in saturated fatty acids.
4. Increased fiber. Vegetables and fruits are at the second stage of almost all subspecies of food pyramids.

Some modern variations of the food pyramid (like SciAm) have tight control over the source of carbohydrates, which will help you shed those extra pounds.

In general, if you use the food pyramid, it is possible to lose weight, but you will need additions:

1. Tighter calorie counting. The portion scaling will be based on the calorie deficit.
2. Increased physical activity.
3. Changing the balance of nutrients towards proteins and polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids.

Conclusions

What is a food pyramid really? This is not an ideal system that will suit every person - these are just generalized principles of nutrition, which are not aimed at improving health, but at preparing the body for more specialized diets. If you were able to master the food pyramid, then perhaps you can master separate nutrition, and behind it - the correct selection of foods for nutrients.

We would not recommend this nutritional system to professional athletes or people who are serious about their weight. But it can be used by those who want to try a diet that will not (greatly) harm their health and will help to adjust their weight and eating habits.

Watch the video: Food Pyramid - Healthy Food Eating Pyramid Ideas (November 2024).