{"id":1459775,"date":"2022-05-02T07:44:53","date_gmt":"2022-05-02T11:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1459775"},"modified":"2022-05-02T07:44:56","modified_gmt":"2022-05-02T11:44:56","slug":"is-the-food-pyramid-making-you-fat-heres-why-it-doesnt-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/is-the-food-pyramid-making-you-fat-heres-why-it-doesnt-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Food Pyramid Making You Fat? Here\u2019s Why It Doesn\u2019t Work"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fis-the-food-pyramid-making-you-fat-heres-why-it-doesnt-work%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1459775&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Man, I need to start off with a little Disclaimer on this article.\u00a0 The subject at hand is one that truly gets my blood boiling and frustrates me that we have something like this out there which is a \u201cguideline to good health\u201d.\u00a0 I call it a bunch of crap.\u00a0 For those of you who read my articles, you know I hold nothing back and tell it like it is.\u00a0 Well this is one of those articles.\u00a0 So if you aren\u2019t into hearing the truth about something started back in 1992 which is making the US fatter every year, then turn the page now because you aren\u2019t going to like what you are about to read.<\/p>\n<p>If so, I wish you the best with your health and hope you see the light soon.\u00a0 For those who are into their health and living a healthy lifestyle, read on and enjoy.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure you too soon after beginning to read this will sit there and question how something like this could be published by the USDA as a guideline for all Americans to follow.\u00a0 Do they want us to get fat and increase our chances of illness\/disease?\u00a0 I\u2019d love nothing more than to educate people and teach them how to live a LONG and HEALTHY life.\u00a0 But I guess that\u2019s just me\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Back in 1992 in an undisclosed location (adding a little mystery to this \u201cgreat\u201d idea they had, yes sarcasm) a group of people huddled around to form something in which they thought would be the answer to helping people stay healthy. Placing into action a \u201cfood pyramid\u201d which would be a model for all Americans to follow to ensure healthy eating is what they decided on. On paper it all looked good, but in theory it was lacking quite a bit.\u00a0 Actually so much, that what they have in place is a great way to gain excess weight\/body fat and compromise Americans health as a whole.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes down to it, the Food Pyramid had hardly any scientific background behind it.\u00a0 In fact, it has been mentioned and speculated that it reflects what was going on politically.\u00a0 The positioning of many of the foods in the Pyramid were supposedly changed after the specific industries lobbied to have them moved to a better location on the Pyramid.\u00a0 Guess who won?\u00a0 Take a look at the bottom of the Pyramid.<\/p>\n<p>When the food pyramid was created about 56% of Americans were overweight.\u00a0 By 2004 65% of American adults were considered overweight.\u00a0 So in the span of 12 years the number rose 9%.\u00a0 Now you might look at that percentage and think it isn\u2019t too bad, but take into consideration the amount of people in the United States (and the number continues to grow).\u00a0 That\u2019s millions of people!\u00a0 Now you see where I\u2019m going with this.<\/p>\n<p>A study done at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health showed that over the past few decades the number of overweight American adults has significantly increased and they propose that if the rate continues at the rate at which it is going, by the year 2030 over 86% of American adults will be overweight.\u00a0 Staggering and extremely scary numbers!\u00a0 With that being the case, what do you think will happen with disease and illness?\u00a0 Yea, that\u2019s going to significantly increase as well!\u00a0 The outcome is gloomy, people.\u00a0 We need to take a good, hard look at the direction we are headed.\u00a0 Do you want to be part of that statistic?\u00a0 I sure don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>So what exactly makes up the Food Pyramid?\u00a0 It consists of 6 categories:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li> Bread\/Cereal\/Rice\/Pasta<\/li>\n<li> Vegetables<\/li>\n<li> Fruits<\/li>\n<li> Milk\/Yogurt\/Cheese<\/li>\n<li> Meat\/Poultry\/Fish\/Dry Beans\/Eggs\/Nuts<\/li>\n<li> Fats\/Oils\/Sweets<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Each category is given a number of servings to strive for daily.\u00a0 Below you will find what THEY suggest as well as what constitutes a serving:<\/p>\n<h3> Bread\/Cereal\/Rice\/Pasta<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li> 6-11 servings<\/li>\n<li> 1 slice of bread<\/li>\n<li> 1 ounce of ready-to-eat cereal<\/li>\n<li> \u00bd cup of cooked cereal, rice, or pasta<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3> Vegetables<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li> 3-5 servings<\/li>\n<li> 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables<\/li>\n<li> 1\/2 cup of other vegetables, cooked or chopped raw<\/li>\n<li> 3\/4 cup of vegetable juice<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3> Fruits<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li> 2-4 servings<\/li>\n<li> 1 medium apple, banana, orange<\/li>\n<li> 1\/2 cup of chopped, cooked, or canned fruit<\/li>\n<li> 3\/4 cup of fruit juice<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3> Milk\/Yogurt\/Cheese<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li> 2-3 servings<\/li>\n<li> 1 cup of milk or yogurt<\/li>\n<li> 1 \u00bd ounces of natural cheese<\/li>\n<li> 2 ounces of process cheese<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3> Meat\/Poultry\/Fish\/Dry Beans\/Eggs\/Nuts<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li> 2-3 servings<\/li>\n<li> 2-3 ounces of cooked lean meat, poultry, or fish<\/li>\n<li> 1\/2 cup of cooked dry beans, 1 egg, or 2 tablespoons of peanut butter count as 1 ounce of lean meat<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3> Fats\/Oils\/Sweets<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li> Use sparingly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I\u2019m not simply doing this for all the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muscleandstrength.com\/athletes\">bodybuilders<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muscleandstrength.com\/athletes\/fitness-models\">fitness<\/a> enthusiasts out there even though this will be directly posted on the Muscleandstrength.com website.\u00a0 I want the whole American population to be able to take a look at this and change their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muscleandstrength.com\/nutrition\">diet<\/a> even if they aren\u2019t currently engaging in an exercise program.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take someone who doesn\u2019t necessarily eat bad by any means and works out on a regular basis.\u00a0 Now let\u2019s say he weighs 168 pounds and is pretty lean at around 9% bodyfat.\u00a0 That gives him a lean mass of around 152 pounds.<\/p>\n<p>Just to maintain his lean mass he should be taking in at least 1g of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muscleandstrength.com\/store\/category\/protein.html\">protein<\/a> per pound of bodyweight which equates out to 152g of protein each day.\u00a0 Looking at the Food Pyramid, he would need to take in 152g of protein in 2-3 servings.\u00a0 That would mean each meal would have to have around 50g of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muscleandstrength.com\/store\/category\/protein.html\">protein<\/a>.\u00a0 We all know that you need to take in 5-7 small meals throughout the day to keep the metabolism revved up.\u00a0 There in lies another downfall to the pyramid.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t set out frequency of meals.<\/p>\n<p>But going back to our 168 pound friend.\u00a0 According to the pyramid, he can take in 6-11 servings of bread a day.\u00a0 He decides to go for all 11 servings by eating 11 pieces of white bread throughout the day.\u00a0 Just so happens commercially produced white bread that you can buy at the grocery store per slice has around 66 calories and 13g of carbohydrates. Now without him eating anything else but 11 pieces of bread, for the day he already is looking at 726 calories and 143g of carbs.\u00a0 If your eyes aren\u2019t popping out they should be!\u00a0 That is JUST one section of the food pyramid for the day!\u00a0 His blood sugar from the white bread would be through the roof!<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s take a look at each category and further break it down to show why it isn\u2019t very well thought out.<\/p>\n<h3> Bread\/Cereal\/Rice\/Pasta<\/h3>\n<p>A key to this category that is missing is the difference between \u201cgood\u201d and \u201cbad\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muscleandstrength.com\/expert-guides\/carb-supplements\">carbs<\/a>.\u00a0 Similar to fats, there are carbohydrates that you want in your diet and then those that you don\u2019t.\u00a0 The pyramid doesn\u2019t separate the two let alone even mention the difference.\u00a0 You have simple and complex <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muscleandstrength.com\/expert-guides\/carb-supplements\">carbs<\/a>.\u00a0 Obviously some will be high-glycemic and jack up insulin in the body and low-glycemic which keeps insulin levels normal and steady.\u00a0 When looking at bread, for example, you have many different choices.\u00a0 You look up and down the rows and see rye, Italian, white, wheat, pumpernickel, sourdough, etc.\u00a0 What you really need to do is look at the back of them.<\/p>\n<p>Pick something that is a whole wheat bread if you want a healthy choice.\u00a0 Same goes for pasta, if you want it pick the whole wheat version.\u00a0 Similarly when looking at rice, rather than grabbing the white rice go with a healthier brown rice.\u00a0 And cereal, man we could write a few pages on cereal.\u00a0 I\u2019ll keep it simple, the less ingredients the better (that goes with pretty much anything).\u00a0 Stay clear of the sugary cereals and oatmeal and stick with the whole grain versions.<\/p>\n<h3> Vegetables<\/h3>\n<p>Go green!\u00a0 No we aren\u2019t talking about recycling and reusing resources, we are talking about green vegetables.\u00a0 Lettuce, spinach, broccoli, peas, green beans, asparagus, etc.\u00a0 Load up on these sources as they have the best nutritional profile and also supply the body with a great amount of antioxidants to fight off free radicals that try and damage our cells.\u00a0 You can also substitute yams or sweet potatoes for regular old spuds (potatoes).<\/p>\n<h3> Fruits<\/h3>\n<p>Pretty hard to go wrong here.\u00a0 Fruits like apples, peaches, bananas, and pears are great choices when shopping in this category.\u00a0 Make sure that you are buying the natural version and not the canned version of them as they are loaded with tons of unnecessary sugars that you want to stay away from.<\/p>\n<h3> Milk\/Yogurt\/Cheese<\/h3>\n<p>This should not come as a surprise by stick to the low percentage fat milk.\u00a0 That means continue past the whole milk until you get to the skim or 2% version.\u00a0 Whole milk is slammed with fat that you don\u2019t need in your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muscleandstrength.com\/nutrition\">diet<\/a>.\u00a0 If you enjoy the taste, soy is a great alternative.\u00a0 Yogurts be cautious of, as they can be loaded with a lot of sugars that you are trying to stay away from.\u00a0 Many have fruit (which isn\u2019t bad as long as it is real fruit), candy pieces, and fillers that are unnecessary in helping you stay lean and healthy.<\/p>\n<h3> Meat\/Poultry\/Fish\/Dry Beans\/Eggs\/Nuts<\/h3>\n<p>Things you definitely want to add from this category are lean meats, skinless chicken or turkey breast (not the deli style), any type of fish, dry beans are a great addition to a meal, eggs (preferably egg whites), and nuts such as almonds\/sunflower seeds\/cashews\/peanuts (all of which you should look for no salt versions of to limit your sodium intake).<\/p>\n<h3> Fats\/Oils\/Sweets<\/h3>\n<p>This category is a section that I really think the USDA missed the boat.\u00a0 What they are implying is that all fats are bad.\u00a0 This is clearly not the case.\u00a0 You have good fats which are necessary in everyday functioning of the body.\u00a0 Then there are bad fats such as the saturated fats that you are accustomed to seeing at a fast food restaurant.\u00a0 Fish for example has a good amount of omega-3 fatty acids which are the good fats that you need.\u00a0 Nuts (such as almonds) are also a good source of healthy fat.<\/p>\n<p>Reading the back label of products is very important.\u00a0 Make sure there are no hydrogenated fats or oils in the product, these are considered trans fats and should be avoided at all costs.\u00a0 Olive oil is a great choice if cooking or adding to a dish (such as your whole wheat pasta).\u00a0 Candy and sugar should be avoided at all cost.\u00a0 There is nothing healthy about it (except when looking at dark chocolate which has antioxidants in it which are good).\u00a0 Continue past these types of products and resist the urge. Soda and sugary drinks should be avoided at all costs as well, including the diet versions\u2014there is nothing healthy about any of them.\u00a0 In terms of alcohol, it appears red wine is your best option and a glass a day has been shown to be healthy for the heart.\u00a0 Other alcoholic beverage should be consumed sparingly.<\/p>\n<p>So there should be no shock as to why the rate of overweight Americans is on the rise after looking at the Pyramid which does not differentiate between healthy options in each category.\u00a0 Instead it groups them all under one umbrella and makes us the consumers figure out which is better.\u00a0 But if you don\u2019t know the difference to begin with, then how do you know any better?\u00a0 You don\u2019t.\u00a0 There in lies my point.\u00a0 The guidelines put in place for the Food Pyramid are lacking a good set of guidelines that all Americans should be following.\u00a0 Without having these in place, people get confused as to what food choices are healthy or unhealthy.<\/p>\n<p>The Pyramid focuses too much on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muscleandstrength.com\/store\/category\/carbohydrates.html\">carbohydrates<\/a> and assumes that all those carbohydrates are equal as well as all fats being equal.\u00a0 The recommended servings of vegetables are good, but they are again assuming all vegetables are equal.\u00a0 Eating three white potatoes a day to meet your requirements is a horrible option.\u00a0 But how would you know you\u2019re doing it all wrong?\u00a0 As far as you\u2019re concerned you are just doing what the Pyramid shows.\u00a0 The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muscleandstrength.com\/expert-guides\/protein-supplements\">protein<\/a> servings on the Pyramid is way too low.\u00a0 You need a source of protein in EVERY meal you eat.\u00a0 So if you are taking in 5-7 meals a day, you want to get 5-7 servings of protein a day.\u00a0 Now I\u2019m not saying eat seven 10 ounces steaks.\u00a0 Serving sizes around the 4-6 ounce range depending on your weight will be fine.\u00a0 About the only thing on the Pyramid that I do agree with is the sweets portion of it.\u00a0 They definitely need to be ate sparingly and if you can, avoided at all costs.<\/p>\n<p>I am not alone with my thinking on this.\u00a0 There is research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that showed the Food Pyramid to do very little in terms of lowering your risk is illness and disease.\u00a0 They state just as I have, that everything seems to be a little backwards in that even though they recommend we eat more vegetables in our diet, the fact that majority of our diet (according to the pyramid) is to be consumed with an over abundance carbohydrates and less fat is counter productive.<\/p>\n<p>The sad part is all the marketing that is put into these products.\u00a0 When you go to the grocery store, pick up a box of one of your favorite childhood sugary cereals and see what you find.\u00a0 Ah, there it is!\u00a0 The Food Pyramid!\u00a0 Giving you assurance that this must be healthy for you because it is pointing out that it is part of your daily servings on the Food Pyramid.\u00a0 Think of all the kids that are eating these sugary cereals which are giving them no nutritional benefit at all.<\/p>\n<p>Heck, let\u2019s take this even one step further.\u00a0 Schools base their lunches off of the Pyramid\u2014assuming that if they follow those guidelines that they are giving kids a healthy lunch.\u00a0 It\u2019s no wonder kids love the school food, they get pizza, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, canned fruit, a bowl of vegetables, etc.\u00a0 According to the Pyramid they fit within the allowed servings.\u00a0 But healthy choices are the key words here.\u00a0 Are those really healthy choices?\u00a0 No, not even close.\u00a0 So even in schools where they are suppose to be teaching our kids how to make smart choices in terms of healthy foods they themselves are leading by a poor example.<\/p>\n<p>We didn\u2019t even touch on a major portion of all this and I don\u2019t want to get too far off track here.\u00a0 They completely forgot to throw exercise in there!\u00a0 They could have at least mentioned daily exercise along with proper <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muscleandstrength.com\/nutrition\">nutrition<\/a> is the key to staying fit and healthy.\u00a0 You simply cannot have one or the other if your goal is to stay fit and healthy.\u00a0 That\u2019s like trying to write a note on a piece of paper but you have no ink in the pen.\u00a0 There needs to also be guidelines in place that can recommend different amounts of servings based on your activity level.\u00a0 Someone who is sedentary all day clearly doesn\u2019t need as much food\/macronutrients as someone who is active all day long and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muscleandstrength.com\/exercises\">exercises<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Something needs to be put in place to recommend a lower scaled serving suggestion for those non active and a higher scaled serving suggestion for those who are active.\u00a0 Not only the exercise aspect of it, but what about a multivitamin\/mineral?\u00a0 We simply cannot get all the vitamins and minerals we need from diet alone.\u00a0 Not only that but supplements in general aren\u2019t a bad thing.\u00a0 For those working out the benefits of supplementing with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muscleandstrength.com\/store\/category\/protein.html\">protein powders<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muscleandstrength.com\/store\/category\/creatine.html\">creatine<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muscleandstrength.com\/store\/category\/glutamine.html\">glutamine<\/a>, would do nothing but good for them.\u00a0 This is another topic that needs to be addressed on the Food Pyramid (when they update it).<\/p>\n<p>When it comes down to it, we all want to live a long healthy life.\u00a0 We are brought up our whole life surrounded by guidelines that help us get to where we want to go.\u00a0 If these guidelines are incorrect, they lead us on a path in a direction we don\u2019t want to go.\u00a0 All I\u2019m saying is there needs to be something done.\u00a0 We cannot sit around and allow people to be pointed in the direction we are headed.\u00a0 If the statistics in this article don\u2019t shock you and open your eyes, I\u2019m saddened to say that you too might one day be the statistic.<\/p>\n<p>I for one want to be on the smaller statistic that shows the healthy individuals in the United States who eats healthy and exercises regularly.\u00a0 I want to help people reach their health and fitness goals and strive for excellence in all they do.\u00a0 We all want to be healthy.\u00a0 Free of sickness and disease.\u00a0 There is nothing worse than watching a loved one slowly slip away due to an illness that might have been prevented years prior if they changed some of their habits.\u00a0 I wish nothing but long life and prosperity to all of you.\u00a0 I hope you follow the ways to a healthier lifestyle and truly feel the benefits that come along with it.\u00a0 After all, the only true wealth is health.<\/p>\n<h3> References<\/h3>\n<p>McCullough, M.L., Feskanich, D., Stampfer, M.J., et al., \u201cDiet Quality and Major Chronic Disease Risk in Men and Women: Moving toward Improved Dietary Guidance,\u201d American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 76, 2002, pages 1261-1271. Willett, W.C., and Stampfer, M.J., \u201cRebuilding the Food Pyramid,\u201d Scientific American, January 2003, pages 64-71.<\/p>\n<p>Youfa Wang, May A. Beydoun, Lan Liang, Benjamin Caballero and Shiriki K. Kumanyika. Will All Americans Become Overweight or Obese? Estimating the Progression and Cost of the US Obesity Epidemic. Obesity, Advance online publication, July 24, 2008 DOI: doi:10.1038\/oby.2008.351<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Man, I need to start off with a little Disclaimer on this article.\u00a0 The subject at hand is one that truly gets my blood boiling and frustrates me that we<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":489,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1459775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1459775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/489"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1459775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1459775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1459775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1459775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1459775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}