Food+Groups

toc The USDA publishes new Dietary Guidelines every five years. The Dietary Guidelines and Food Pyramid we use now were written in 2005, and another set of guidelines will come out in 2010. Watch the USDA "MyPyramid"[| animation] about how the food pyramid has changed. For those of you who like to listen to information more than read it, try these Podcast links. Yu should probably use earphones if you're at school. I really liked the background sound effects used in this one. [|Podcast MyPyramid]

Go to [|My Pyramid Plan] and enter your information to see how many calories and how much of each food group you should eat. Each of the colored triangles in the pyramid represents a different food group. The size of the triangle gives you an idea about how much of your diet should come from that food group. For example you should have a lot more grains (orange) than oils (yellow).

HInts for a Healthy Diet

 * Focus on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat dairy products
 * Include lean meat (meat without much visible fat) poultry, fish, beans, eggs and nuts
 * Look for foods LOW in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, sodium (salt) and added sugars (including corn syrup)

What about Calories?
Calories are the measurement of how much energy is in a food. Once you calculate how many calories you need each day to maintain a [|healthy weight], then you find a good amount of food to have from each food group, and balance that with the number of calories. Now might be a good time to play the [|Blast of Game] on My Pyramid.gov to see if you can balance the food groups and calories to plan a healthy menu for one day!

More Hints

 * Make smart choices from every food group.
 * Find balance between food and physical activity.
 * Get the most nutrition out of calories.
 * Stay within daily calorie needs.

Inside the Pyramid

 * [[image:Picture_2.png width="348" height="156"]] || Go to [|Inside the Pyramid] and click on the different colored sections to find out more about the types of food included in each of the food groups:
 * 1) Grains - orange
 * 2) Vegetables - green
 * 3) Fruits -red
 * 4) Oils -yellow
 * 5) Milk & dairy - blue
 * 6) Meats & Beans - purple ||