Staff Blog
Harvard’s Healthy Eating Pyramid
posted by Felicia D'Ambrosio
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| harvard.edu |
The eggheads at Harvard University’s School of Public Health have cooked up the latest iteration of the food pyramid, and it is based on exercise.
Not that dietary and medical researchers are suggesting you eat your gym shoes, but rather found your healthy diet on daily activity, burning calories to keep everything you do put in your face in balance. Unlike past food pyramids or food group structures, this is “based on the latest science, and unaffected by businesses and
organizations with a stake in its messages … the Healthy Eating Pyramid
is a simple, trustworthy guide to choosing a healthy diet.”
The new pyramid ignores grams and servings, instead painting, in broad strokes, what we’re supposed to be eating. Plants, in the form of fruits and vegetables, healthy fats like olive oil, and whole grains are the basis. Smaller amounts of nuts, seeds and tofu share equal footing with fish, poultry and eggs. Dairy does receive a serving suggestion of 1 to 3 servings a day, or calcium and Vitamin D supplements can be substituted. “American staples” like refined grains, red meat, butter, potatoes, salt and sweets end up in the point of this pyramid, branded with the dreaded “use sparingly” advisement.
Lingering in the pyramid’s front yard is alcohol in moderation (for some), as well as multivitamins. Though vitamins have been getting Amy Winehouse-like bad press recently, Harvard’s Dept. of Nutrition includes them as an insurance policy.
A plant-based diet seems to be the last word in nutrition. Though the Harvard certainly knows a thing or two about a thing or two, I’m still holding out for research that reveals the four vital food groups to be champagne, butter, bacon and chocolate.
