Food guide Pyramid

To make your meal you should know how to prepare it, what foods are good to eat and what are bad.

There are many ways that can help you prepare healthy food such as Food Guide Pyramid, MyPyramid Food Guidance and MyPlate.

Food Guide Pyramid:

The food pyramid is a simple design to help us make healthy food choices. It used to give us a visual aid to which we can refer.

If you want to maintain a healthy weight and reduce your risk of becoming ill, you should follow the food pyramid guidelines.

The Food Pyramid has 6 food groups - Bread and Cereal, Fruits, Vegetables, Milk and Yogurt, Meat and Poultry and Fish, Fats and Sweets.

     How many servings do you need each day?

                                   Women                        Children,                          Teen

                                   & some                        teen girls,                         boys &

                                     older                             active                             active

                                    adults                            women,                            men

                                                                        most men

   Calorie level             approx                           approx                             approx

                                     1,600                              2,200                                2,800

   Bread group                6                                     9                                     11

   Vegetable group          3                                     4                                      5

   Fruit group                  2                                     3                                      4

   Milk group                 2-3                                  2-3                                   2-3

   Meat group                  2                                     2                                      3

These are the calorie levels if you choose low fat, lean foods from the 5 major food groups.

Bread group

Bread group is a good source of carbohydrates like starch and fiber. It also a good source of vitamins and minerals.

This group contains any food made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, bread and pasta.

The best sources of carbohydrates are whole grains such as oats and brown rice.

The body can't digest whole grains quickly such as other carbohydrates. This keeps blood sugar levels under control and prevent the development of type 2 diabetes and obesity diseases.

Vegetable group

Vegetables are a source of vitamins, minerals and  naturally low in fat, calories and sodium.

Because vegetables differ in the vitamins and minerals they contain, it is important to eat a variety of vegetables..

Fruit group

Fruits are important sources of vitamins and carbohydrates like fiber and sugar, so it is important to eat a variety of fruits.

They are low in calories and naturally sweet. Fruits and their juices are good sources of water.

Canned fruits packed in syrup have a lot of added sugar. They are higher in calories than fresh fruits.

Milk group

The foods in this group are important because all of the nutrients work together to keep our bones strong and healthy, because they are the best sources of the mineral calcium.

They also provide us with vitamin A, protein and phosphorus. It may be difficult to get enough calcium unless we include these foods in our diets.

Some milk products like ice cream, cheese, whole milk and foods made from whole milk are high in fat, so we should choose low-fat or skim milk products to keep the fat in our diets down.

Meat group

Meat, poultry, fish, lentils, eggs and other varieties of food in this group are important sources of protein, iron, and B vitamins.

Some meats are high in fat. There are many ways to reduce the fat you can trim fat from meat before cooking and eating. You can take the skin off chicken.

Plant foods like mushrooms, lentils, chick peas and peas are inexpensive sources of protein. Unlike meats, beans are low in fat and high in fiber.

Fats and Sweets group

Fats, oils and sweets give us calories but they do not contain many vitamins or minerals.

Fats and oils like mayonnaise, butter and margarine.

Sweets like candy, soft drinks, syrups, jams, and jellies  

Fats, oils and sweets are not bad foods. They add flavor to our diets, We don't have to give them up but we can use less of them to help us stay fit and healthy.

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