What is food pyramid? Well to put it very simply, food pyramid represents a guide to healthy eating. It is structured in the shape of a pyramid so that you know which foods you can eat the most of. These foods are on the bottom; with the foods you can eat the least amount of balancing on the top. The first food pyramid was devised in the 1960s. It was devised to try and counteract or combat growing incidences of heart disease and other such diet related disorders. It has since been revised, and should be continuously revised as the knowledge of food and nutrition expands. The current food pyramid is not perfect, it still requires additional work.

Before we continue on to look at the component parts of the food pyramid, I think we should take a little look at the sources of information that go into making up these food pyramid guidelines. In other words I want to look at who is actually writing these guidelines.

Unfortunately, food pyramid is designed by people who are not entirely impartial. For instance in the United States, the food pyramid is designed by the Department of agriculture. As we all know the main function of the Department of Agriculture is to promote agricultural products. So you really have to ask yourself whether there is a conflict of interest. Is the Department of Agriculture writing the food pyramid as guidelines to a healthy diet, are they supporting their own economic interests in writing the USDA food pyramid?

One of the things that strike you when you look at the current food pyramid is that there is no proper detail on which foods should be highly emphasized in your diet and which foods should be consumed only in very small amounts. Of course there is a general feel for the whole thing, for instance eat more grains and eat less oil and candy. So what we would like to see more of in the new food pyramid, which is happening very soon, is guidance as to the foods that we should be eating more of and also guidance as to the foods we should be eating less of.

The basic structure of the food pyramid is that the foods you can eat the most of are at the base of a healthy food pyramid, and the foods that you can eat them least of are the top of the food pyramid. So let's go from the bottom to the top. At the bottom are the breads and grains that constitute your carbohydrate intake. Next up a level are the fruit and vegetables, these are your five a day servings that are going to fill you with vitamins and minerals. Next comes the milk and dairy products. On the penultimate level are meat, poultry, fish, eggs, nuts, and beans. This level represents your protein intake. Then, right at the top of the foods pyramid are fats and oils, candy, cakes and anything which is bad for you such as sugar, salt, etc. these are the things that you must eat in moderation.

The food pyramid is meant to portray healthy guidelines that you should be following in your diet.  Disregarding the partial/impartial nature of the authorship of the food pyramid, there is actually a lot to be said for trying to live within these guidelines.

There are a few things that you can do to tweak and improve on the food guide pyramid yourself. The first one of these would be to decrease the amount of white flour, white pasta, and white rice products that you are eating. You can switch to whole grain products. Dietary fiber is very important and whole grain products are a great source of dietary fiber. Also you should try and consume more low-fat dairy products than their full-fat counterparts. You should be eating more fish and low-fat poultry than high-fat poultries and red meats. And some oils are actually very good for you such as olive oil, groundnut oils, some seed oils, and some oils are of course very bad for you and should be consumed much, much less.

There are specialist food pyramids which cater for all different needs and tastes. For instance there is the vegetarian food pyramid which obviously concentrates on a diet without any animal products. There are also food pyramids for people with special dietary needs such as diabetic food pyramid. Then there are food pyramids for cultural needs such as the Mediterranean diet food pyramid, or the Asian diet food pyramid. There should also be a food pyramid for kids.  Ideally, it is my food pyramid would consist of some of the Mediterranean and some of the Asian food pyramids.

Another consideration that should be added to the food pyramid is the need for dietary supplements. Are we getting enough nutrition from food? If not should we be taking dietary supplements? If we are taking dietary supplements, what kind of dietary supplements should we be taking and in what amounts?

Of course with any good dietary plan, the food pyramid if followed correctly will take you on the right road to feeling healthy. But you must also mix this with exercise. You can eat all the good food in the world but if you don't bother getting up off the couch you are not leading a healthy lifestyle. You need to get your increase your heart rate at least once a day. Even a good brisk walk for half an hour every day will do you a lot of good.

I hope you can see some of the benefits of trying to follow a good diet. The food pyramid is a little flawed, and it's authorship is a little suspect, but it is a good foundation for a healthy diet.  Once you have mastered the basics you can search out more advanced nutritional information. What most people need to do now is to get away from eating fast food and junk food. For the most part convenience food is not proper food. You are only robbing Peter to pay Paul. You are filling your body with crap so you can save a little of your present time,  but in the future you are robbing yourself of some of the best years of your life. Eat well now and you are making good deposits into your future health account. I hope you enjoyed reading this article on the food pyramid.