The Food Pyramid

Released in 1992, the food pyramid is a nutrition guide suggesting how much of each food category one should eat each day for a healthy diet.

In general terms the food guide pyramid recommends the following intake of different food groups each day

• 6-11 servings of grain a day such as rice, bread, cereals, and pasta;
• 3-5 servings a day of vegetables, especially green, leafy vegetables;
• 2-4 servings of fruits a day;
• 2-3 servings of meat, fish, eggs, nuts, or beans a day;
• 2-3 servings of dairy products including cheese and yogurt every other day;
• occasional use of fats, oils, and sweets.

The pyramid allowed individuals to consume the foods within a certain range of servings, but in the original version released in 1992 gave no hint on how to interpret that choice.

MyPyramid

Later on, The United States Department of Agriculture released a new version of the 1992 food pyramid called MyPyramid which gives a hint about what a serving should contain:

• Grains, recommending that at least half of grains consumed be as whole grains;
• Vegetables, emphasizing dark green vegetables, orange vegetables, and dry beans and peas;
• Fruits, emphasizing variety and deemphasizing fruit juices;
• Oils, recommending fish, nut and vegetables sources;
• Milk, a category that includes other dairy products;
• Meat and beans, emphasizing low-fat and lean meats such as fish as well as more beans, peas, nuts, and seeds.

That doesn’t help me too much, so I searched deeper for how much is a serving. I found out that some nutritionists have established the serving sizes for a 2000 calories/day diet.

Grains

• 1 bread slice
• 1/2 roll
• 5 – 6 small biscuits or 3 – 4 large biscuits
• 1/2 cup of cereals, rise or cooked pasta
• 1 medium baked potato
• 80 g fried potatoes
• 100 g smashed potato

Fruits

• 1 fruit (apple, banana or a medium orange)
• 1/2 grapefruit
• 1 slice melon
• 3/4 cup of fruits juice
• 1/2 cup of small fruits (raspberry, blackberry, blueberry etc.)
• 1/2 cup of sliced fruits, cooked or form a can
• 1/4 cup of figs

Dry vegetables, nuts and seeds

• 1/2 cooked beans
• 6 peanuts
• 2 table spoons of peanut butter
• 1/3 cup of nuts/seeds

Greens

• 1/2 cup of cooked greens
• 1/2 cup of sliced greens
• 1 cup of greens (spinach, green salad)
• 3/4 cup of greens juice

Dairy, eggs

• 1 cup of milk
• 1 cup of soy milk
• 1 glass (250 ml) of yogurt
• 30 – 50 chees
• 1 egg

Oil and fats

• 1 tea spoon of oil
• 1 tea spoon of margarine
• 1 tea spoon of salad dressing
• 1 table spoon of mayonnaise