Food groups to eating healthy

Food Groups

The food pyramid was recently changed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Instead of the food groups being in a pyramid, they are now organized into vertical stripes. Each strip represents one of the five food groups. The food groups are broken down as orange for grains, green for vegetables, red for fruits, blue for milk/dairy, purple for meats, beans, fish and nuts and yellow for oils.

This new scheme for the food groups better represents a guide for eating healthy. It also emphasizes that exercise and not just diet are important for maintaining your health. It stresses that you should eat a variety of foods from each of the groups. But to maintain a well-balanced diet, you should eat from all food groups, but less from some and more from others. You should consume more fruits, vegetables, grains and dairy products than meats and oils, so the lines for those are skinnier to signify that. The new pyramid also makes it easier to personalize the food groups for you depending on what you like. Grains bread, cereal such as oatmeal, rice or pasta. If you can, it is good to eat whole grains such as 100% wheat bread rather than white bread. Brown rice is also better for you than white rice. Vegetables and fruits are good not only for children, but adults as well. Vegetable gardening is a great way to get children to eat vegetables. By watching something grow from a seed to a vegetable and knowing they helped make it children will be more willing to eat them. Some fruits contain more sugar than others, so you should watch you intake on certain fruits. And remember that eating more green vegetables is better for you than starchy vegetables like potatoes. Dairy products that contain calcium can help build and maintain strong bones throughout your life. If you don't like milk, you can eat cheese or yogurt. Ice cream is also a dairy, but you need to eat it in moderation! Remember that your meat group includes not only meats, but also beans, fish and nuts - including peanut butter!

Remember, while you're contemplating whether or not to eat another doughnut or an apple instead there are families that go hungry days on end. Ending worldwide hunger is not something that's going to happen overnight, but there are many ways you can contribute to make sure someone eats another day. Join the Millenium Campaign and help them accomplish their Millenium Development Goals.