Food pyramid diets have been in vogue in recent years. No president wants a population of obese citizens. It's hardly a cause for patriotic pride. "We're leading a race we shouldn't want to win," says Harvard associate professor of pediatrics David Ludwig. It is this initiative that has prompted a flurry of pyramidal schemes, particularly in the Department of Agriculture.

The U.S. Food Pyramid Diets

Behold our first pyramid, developed jointly by the US Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services.

The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) food pyramid diet was unveiled in 1992. Since then several pyramids have been added to the gallery to reflect the eating habits of different ages (kids and seniors), ethnicities (Latin and Asian) and points of view about what makes a diet healthy (the Mediterranean diet).

But first, the USDA pyramid, which can only echo the slant of the stronger players in the spectrum of the farming industry. Although developed in tandem with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the pyramid has been widely criticized for politicizing nutritional matters. Here's why.

The latest addition to food pyramid diets is called the Healthy Eating Pyramid, which its proponents (the Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School) argue, reflects the most current nutrition research available. Just how current, we'll find out soon enough!

Time to compare food pyramid diets! The major difference between the new pyramid and that of the USDA centers on the balance of carbohydrates and fats. For a decade, doctors and food experts told people to eat more carbohydrates and avoid fats. Yet as we know only too well, the obesity epidemic still continued unhampered like a tsunami, leading researchers to question the wisdom of this nutritional advice. The Healthy Eating Pyramid breaks carbs and fats into good and bad, rather than lumping them together. The new pyramid suggests other major changes as well, which includes: • Sharply restricting red meat, potatoes and refined grains, such as white bread
• Limiting dairy products to one or two servings a day
• Replacing unhealthy saturated fat with healthier unsaturated vegetable oils
• Consuming large amounts of whole grains, fruits and vegetables
• Taking a daily multivitamin
• Drinking limited amounts of alcohol

Food Pyramid Diets of Old

The Mediterranean food diet pyramid was developed after researchers noticed that people who live in the Mediterranean area (Italy, Greece, Spain) had lower rates of obesity, heart disease and cancer than do most Americans. Researchers caution that diet is only part of the story, since people in the Mediterranean generally eat less than Americans and are also more active.

The typical Mediterranean diet, in contrast to its American counterpart, is lower in saturated fat (animal fats from meat, whole milk and cheese); higher in monounsaturated fat (from olive oil); and places greater emphasis on vegetables, fruits and legumes.

The senior food pyramid diet is a thinner one, suggesting that older people need to eat "slimmer," to cut down on calories by eating more nutrient-dense foods instead of higher-calorie items.

(Question: Shouldn't the pyramid for seniors have stairs so it's easier to follow? The Aztecs of ancient Mayan civilization had those. Just joking!)

All these food pyramid diets, of course, were a sporadic reaction to the United Nations' health initiatives which for decades have been sounding the alarm bell for the growing underbelly of developed, and then the developing nations. Through its health arm, the World Health Organization (WHO), the world body has been equally concerned about the burgeoning malnutrition in underdeveloped countries. In a January 2005 report, WHO emphasized that "one billion people--one sixth of the world’s population - live in extreme poverty, lacking the safe water, proper nutrition, basic health care and social services needed to survive. Almost 11 million children die each year, six million of them under five from preventable diseases."

Food Pyramid Diets

South Beach Diet
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The Slim Fast Plan - eDiets.com

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