Explore the USDA Food Pyramid

The USDA Food Pyramid - Introduction

Photo © U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

If you follow the guidelines of the USDA Food Pyramid, you should have a pretty healthy diet. However, there are two other food pyramids that I think are even better. These food pyramids are:

• Healthy Eating Food Pyramid from the Harvard School of Public Health
• University of Michigan Healing Foods Pyramid

Before we explore the USDA USDA Food Pyramid, it is important to understand how big a serving of any food is. The USDA Food Pyramid suggests different numbers of servings for every body. Many of us suffer from "portion distortion" and we eat way too much, so let's start with serving sizes and proper portions on the next page.

• The USDA Food Pyramid - Introduction
• Portion Distortion
• A Meal with Better Portions
• The First Step of the USDA Food Pyramid - Bread, Cereal, Rice, and Pasta
• The Next Step of the USDA Food Pyramid - Vegetables and Fruits
• The Next Step of the USDA Food Pyramid - Oils
• The Next Steps of the USDA Food Pyramid - Dairy and Proteins
• A Healthy Balanced Diet