The Food Pyramid, with its recommended servings, represents what the diet and nutrition experts consider to be the most solid, reliable, well-researched thinking to date. It provides a good model for healthy eating.

The basic pyramid, developed by the USDA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is only one model. However, this pyramid has been adapted for ethnic preferences and there are now pyramids for the Mediterranean diet, the Asian diet and the Latin American diet. Other diets, such as the Hawaiian diet, can also be placed on a food pyramid.
How the Food Pyramid is constructed:

The food pyramid has four levels.

1. At its base, the foundation of a healthy diet, are bread, grains, and cereals. They should compose the largest percentage of what you consume.

2. Next come two food groups (vegetables and fruits) which, together, occupy the second tier of the pyramid.

3. On an even higher, smaller level you find the next two food groups: the milk and meat groups.

4. In the small triangle at the top of the pyramid sit fats and oils and sugars.
How to use the Food Pyramid:

Follow these simple steps.

1. Determine your calorie requirement

2. Translate your calorie requirement into daily food group allowances

3. Use the food group allowances to help you plan your meals and snacks

4. Record what you eat and check it against your daily allowances for each group

5. Use the Food Diary to record the areas where you are typically over your daily allowances

6. Try to alter the diet to be closer to your target
Here are a few simple practices to help get or keep you on track:

1. Choose a variety of foods from each major food group. This ensures that you get all of the calories, protein, vitamins, minerals and fiber you need. Choosing a wide range of foods also helps make your meals and snacks more interesting.
2. Adapt the plan to your specific tastes and preferences. For example, a serving of grains doesn’t only mean a slice of wheat bread. It can be wild rice, whole-wheat pasta, grits, bulgur, cornmeal muffins or even popcorn.
3. Combine foods from each major group however you like. For example, you might make a meal of tortillas (grain group) and beans (meat and beans group). Or you could top your fish with fruit salsa or serve steamed vegetables over pasta. The possibilities are endless.
4. Select your meals and snacks wisely. Make the most of what you eat by choosing nutrient-rich foods within each group. And if you need to avoid foods from one or more food groups — for example, if you don’t consume dairy products because of lactose intolerance — choose other foods that are good sources of the nutrients found in those foods.

How to fine-tune the Food Pyramid:

There are some challenges to using the USDA Food Pyramid. The first is that you need to put some distinction in your food choices, according to your particular dietary goals. For instance, if you are concerned about your weight, you will want to make your choices in the meat group from among those with lower fat content. The food pyramid doesn?t distinguish between hot dogs and lean chicken breast, so these distinctions are up to you.

After you have gone through this exercise a few times, you may find there are some foods that do not fit your diet plan. For instance, pizza may not be the best choice if you are trying to cut down on carbohydrates and fat, because it takes up too much of your daily allowance of each. If you don?t want to consume milk products, you may want to substitute additional carbohydrates.

Food pyramid differences:
Although food pyramids reflect the same general principles of healthy eating, they demonstrate different food choices. These differences reflect dietary preferences, food availability and cultural eating patterns. For example, the Latin American Diet Pyramid might include tortillas and cornmeal within the grains food group, whereas the Asian Diet Pyramid might emphasize noodles and rice.

Other differences include:

-Food groups. The food groups among food pyramids may vary somewhat. For example, some might group plant-based proteins — soybeans, beans and nuts — separately from animal proteins found in meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products. This is because animal proteins are often higher in fat and cholesterol, and some diets limit or avoid animal proteins.

-Serving recommendations. How food pyramids address servings also varies. The Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid, for example, recommends a daily number of servings from each food group. And it specifically defines serving sizes; for example, a serving of cooked brown rice is 1/3 cup and a serving of milk is 1 cup. But other plans offer more general guidelines, such as eating particular foods at every meal, or on a weekly or monthly basis. For example, the Latin American Diet Pyramid recommends that you eat whole grains, vegetables and fruits at every meal but eat red meat, sweets and eggs once a week or less.

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