Sunday, February 12, 2012

Variations of the USDA Food Pyramid

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Gretchen Becker

Gretchen Becker

Thu, June 11, 2009

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Normal 0 [Humor]   I just saw yet-another variation on the infamous USDA Food Pyramid. I've seen so many variations I can't remember what this one was about.   But why is it that all our food advice has to come in the form of a pyramid? Do nutritionists think we're ancient Egyptian...
6/11/09 3:34pm

Back when I was in Grade School (the 50s) there were 7 Basic Foods that included fats and oils as a separate group.  The other six (if I remember correctly) were: meats & legumes, Dairy & eggs, citrus, leafy fruits & vegeatbles (could never figure out a leafy fruit we ate), grains, and all other fruits & vegetables.  I had a chart that featured a circle showing equal pie sectors and daily intakes for these food groups.  As I was planning to be a "dietitian when I grew up" I tried to follow this meal plan.  I failed at the "fats & oils" because I didn't like the texture of butter or oleo on my bread, and cut off all the fat on my meat.  In the 80s when we began testing for lipids more vigorously my early eating habits paid off, but my love of food and diet wonin the end.  While HDL is 70+, I did gain a lot of weight tasting foods my staffs prepared over the years, and did develope Type 2.  Never got my RD, but have been Hospital Food Service Director in acute care hospital with my BS plus grad work. 

6/11/09 4:03pm

Interesting how the number of food groups seemed to have changed through the years, from 5 to 7 to 4. I found a site with an interesting slide show showing the various recommendations through the years.

6/11/09 4:30pm

also, the politics behind the pyramid development were interesting- the meat/dairy industry lobbied against the pyramid, because instead of being on equal footing (4 equal food groups), the pyramid was relegating them to a smaller tier- this is what held up the release of the pyramid for years

Anonymous
heyjude
6/11/09 7:34pm

Gretchen, I always love your humor. Let me just add that what I recall best is pie charts but which always made me hungry for more pie and my Mom made wonderful pies!

6/11/09 9:07pm

The one food I really miss is blueberry pie. But I know that if I actually ate a piece (I plan to when I'm on my death bed) I'd find it sickeningly sweet. I have a recipe for pie crust made with crushed almonds and protein powder and maybe some day I'll make a blueberry pie with that.

Anonymous
nonegiven
6/11/09 10:52pm

Just use less sweetener in the filling so it won't be too sweet.  A lot of commercial stuff tastes too sweet now, especially the artificially sweetened stuff.

6/12/09 9:00am

When I'm on my deathbed, I probably won't be doing the baking myself <G>.

Anonymous
Anonymous
7/17/09 4:12pm

Oh Gretchen, you absolutely made my day with this post.  First off, humor is essential to survive the myriad of information we, as diabetics get. They keep changing the names of what we should eat without improving the basic diet.  Laughing helps me stay sane as I maneuver my way through an abysmal sea of convoluted nutritional information from 'the experts'.  

 

You rock!

Michelle

7/17/09 8:43pm

Thanks, Michelle!

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