Well-Balanced Meals

We've been told for years that well-balanced meals follow a concept known as the Food Pyramid. This was invented in Sweden in 1974, and adopted by the US Department of Agriculture in 1992. It divides the types of food into broad food groups, and suggests how much food intake we should be eating from each group.

The Food Pyramid taught that good nutrition for a day's meals should contain:

* 6 to 11 servings from the bread, cereal and pasta group
* 3 to 5 servings of vegetables
* 2 to 4 servings of fruit
* 2 to 3 servings from the milk, yoghurt and cheese group
* 2 to 3 servings of meat, poultry, dry beans, eggs and nutsgroup

The very tip of the US Food Pyramid recommends that the most fattening food types, Fats, Oils and Sweets should be eaten extremely sparingly. (This covers desserts and candy, and cakes, cookies and biscuits as well.)

Dark green vegetables and orange vegetables are especially nutritious and good for your health. Unfortunately the original food pyramid recommendation failed to suggest that fruit be eaten daily. (This maybe because the original author was in Sweden, a very cold European country where most fruits have to be imported.)

One criticism of the food plan is that drinking three glasses of milk a day is an invitation for heart disease later in life. Also, the amounts of meat, fish and eggs recommended are actually the maximum allowable. This is not made clear. And, as for fruits, the amount specified is the minimum you should be eating.

So eat more fruit and (preferably raw) vegetables and less meat if you want to be fit and healthy. Remember fish is good. Vegetarians and Vegans have been telling us this for years. Please, don't misunderstand what I'm saying here. I'm not a vegetarian or a Vegan myself, but some of my friends are. I'd also like to point out that I have never seen a true vegetarian or Vegan who was overweight. And I'll be surprised if you have, either!

A quick look at Vegatarian or Vegan food.