bye bye old food groups & food pyramid ... HELLO up to date healthy Food Plate!

When I sat down in one of my favorite restaurant in Ft Lauderdale, Sublime and picked up a copy of the "Good Medicine" magazine  put out from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). I can't begin to tell you how HAPPY I was to see this new rendition of the basic food groups!
WELL IT IS ABOUT TIME!
(to continue reading this post click the read more link below)

 Because if we don't start updating the information people are receiving, that is supported by scientific research, about what is GOOD NUTRITION then the imprinting of the old SAD (standard american diet) will continue on to destroying our health. 

When I talk with people about good healthy food choices one of the first things they say is, "Its so hard" What is so hard about eating healthy foods??? One reason they respond that way is because the information they are receiving is confusing and out of date and not convenient. With children involved this makes it even more difficult when submerged with society and school systems who are teaching and feeding the children poor nutrition. And that is the BEST place to start... with the children... our future.

Good Medicine Magazine - Spring Issue,

Introducing the Power Plate

By Dr. Neal Banard M.D.

President of PCRM

The Food Guide Pyramid has adorned classroom walls and food packages since 1992, but a new, more accurate, and more user-friendly graphic has been developed by PCRM experts for use by schools, health care professionals, and individuals looking for up-to-date nutrition advice.

It’s time to retire the Pyramid. Yes, its shape was appealing. And its message was reassuring. Whether you gravitated toward the grains, fruits, and vegetables at its base, or the meats and dairy products pictured on its upper levels, the Pyramid had you covered. But that was exactly the problem. From the beginning, the diagram was at odds with scientific evidence. It was intended to promote a solid premise, that the basis of the diet should be vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. But its recommendations for meat and dairy products flew in the face of countless studies showing that people who eat these products daily are less healthy than people who steer clear of them.

In 1991, when the Eating Right Pyramid was about to debut, three colleagues joined me in suggesting a better way. T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., who led the China Study; Denis Burkitt, M.D., who established the value of fiber in the diet; and Oliver Alabaster, M.D., an oncologist from The George Washington University, spoke at a PCRM press conference near the White House. We held that the dietary staples should be the New Four Food Groups—vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes (beans, peas, and lentils). All other foods were deemed optional—and some “optional” foods (e.g., meats, dairy products, eggs, greasy and sugary foods) are best left off the plate entirely.

A week later, the Pyramid was released. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, already reeling from our suggestion that meat no longer be a daily requirement, was scandalized by meat’s seemingly reduced prominence on the Pyramid. The group descended on the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and demanded that the diagram be withdrawn—which it was, in no time flat. Not until a year later did it reappear nearly unchanged under the name “Food Guide Pyramid.” In 2005, the diagram was redrawn to replace the depictions of food with uninterpretable colored stripes. Users had to go online to find out what was recommended. And that’s the Pyramid we know today.

Enter the Power Plate. It is a simple and reasonably literal diagram that shows the healthy foods that belong on our plates. It is both more accurate than the Pyramid and much easier to implement. PCRM has developed and released the Power Plate with posters in doctors’ offices, advertisements in nutrition journals, and a full Web presence. And we have asked the federal government to adopt it—or something like it—as federal policy.

There are many uncertainties in nutritional science: Is it better to emphasize whole grains, or should our plates be more abundant in vegetables and fruits? Is raw better than cooked? The Power Plate does not tackle these questions. Rather, it sticks to the basics: a healthy diet emphasizes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes. It also points out the importance of getting vitamin B12 from either supplements or fortified foods (a recommendation that the government currently limits to older people, but is sound advice for everyone). And it presents these ideas in a framework that anyone can understand.

An up-to-date teaching tool is just a first step in improving people’s eating habits. But if our educational tools can keep up with what we know about nutritional science, our message is that much more powerful.

A New Direction...
Food Pyramid Yields to the PCRM's Power Plate -

The U.S. Department of Agriculture created the Eating Right Pyramid diagram in 1991. Unlike the Basic Four diagram it replaced, it promoted grains, vegetables, and fruits, with somewhat less emphasis on meats and dairy products, and even less on sugar and added fats. It was quickly withdrawn, however, under objections by the meat industry.

A year later, the Food Guide Pyramid re-emerged, nearly identical to its predecessor. However, as the paint dried on the new graphic, it was clear that it was already out of date. Even with reduced graphic emphasis on meats and dairy products, it still called for two to three servings of both each day. Studies had already shown, however, that people who follow its advice to consume meat and dairy products are, as a group, less healthy than people who avoid these products altogether.

For many, the Pyramid seemed overly abstract and did not translate very well into daily choices. After all, people eat from plates, not pyramids.

In 2005, the USDA modified the graphic again, introducing its current—and even more controversial—food guide, MyPyramid. The graphic—a series of colored stripes—includes no food images at all and requires Internet access to gain dietary guidance. Its program content continues to recommend meat, dairy products, and other unhealthful foods.

New Building Blocks

PCRM dietitians and doctors saw the need for a set of easy-to-use dietary guidance tools that serve the current needs of the public—to curb dietary excesses and fight chronic diseases.

After identifying principles and goals to guide the materials’ development, PCRM’s director of nutrition education Susan Levin, M.S., R.D., and other PCRM experts examined the Institute of Medicine and World Health Organization reports on dietary intake and identified the most healthful sources of nutrients.

The team concluded that the new food diagram should focus on grains, vegetables, fruits, and beans. These foods are nutrient-rich, free of cholesterol and animal fats, and can aid in preventing heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and other chronic diseases plaguing Americans. PCRM’s nutrition experts excluded meat, dairy products, and eggs since they are unnecessary and present serious health risks.

Thinking Outside the Pyramid

Historically, food diagrams have used shapes that have no connection to food. But several leading health organizations, including the American Institute for Cancer Research and the American Diabetes Association, use plate images to communicate nutrition information with more literal meaning.

To determine what shape would be best for PCRM’s diagram, the team developed and tested four versions: a triangular shape similar to MyPyramid, a square, a stylized plate, and a simple plate. These were evaluated by children and adults using an anonymous online survey. The plate-shaped diagram had a higher aesthetic rating, compared with square and triangular diagrams. It also had a high rate of content recall.

PCRM’s new diagram presents the basics of a menu for optimal health through the concrete image of a plate. The Power Plate eliminates portion suggestions and food hierarchies and simply recommends a variety from all four groups. The graphic can translate into grain-based meals, as might be familiar in Asian cuisine, legume-based meals for Latin American tastes, or meals based on vegetables and fruits for Mediterranean flavors, and easily accommodates macrobiotic or raw-food diets. Foods that are not depicted (e.g., meats, dairy products, and nuts) are considered strictly optional (and some are best avoided altogether).

The USDA is set to release its new Dietary Guidelines for Americans this year. As the department deliberates over the new guidelines, PCRM hopes the Power Plate will help Americans understand the basics of a healthful diet.

Complete Nutrition
Protein
It was once thought that plant-based diets could provide adequate protein only if specific foods, such as grains and beans, were consumed together, a concept known as “protein complementing.” It is now known that a diet based on grains, vegetables, fruits, and legumes provides all the essential amino acids needed to produce complete protein, even without special combining.
Minerals
Calcium, iron, and other minerals are especially abundant in legumes and green leafy vegetables, or “beans and greens.”
Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 is not found in most plant foods. For individuals following a diet free of all animal products, vitamin B12 needs can easily be met through fortified foods, including many breakfast cereals, some meat substitute products, and fortified soy milk. Most common multivitamins also contain B12. Seaweed and products like tempeh are generally not reliable sources of vitamin B12.
Regular intake of vitamin B12 is important to meet nutritional needs. The recommended dietary allowance for adults is 2.4 micrograms per day, with increased requirements for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Read more of  "Good Medicine" magazine other GREAT articles from this issue such as:

- Dr Barnard Helps 'Viewers Like You" Fight Diabetes
- Introducing the Healthy School Meals Act 2010
- Ginnifer Goodwin Has Big Love For Vegan Kichstart
- more articles from this issue.