Opinion of this food pyramid?

[Senator Sbane]

Or should we eat more like the USDA told us to from 1992-2005?

[clarence]

Let me tell you what I've realized.... I am not the healthiest fella on the planet but I can get around and enjoy life and 69 may not sound old to many of you but I didn't think I'd lvie this long when I was growing up...definitely not live the type of life I do now. I have realized much of life and health is simply how much you enjoy life- people I know who live the longest have the least stress and that makes them lives longer

If having a good hearty meal relaxes you- that is healtheir then the people I know (including my lady friend) who stress over exercise. That is one rason I try not to get worked up over some of the posts on this board- even the ones that offend me- because it is unhealthy to be stressed

[Governor Scott]

I've always preferred the second pyramid.

[Senator Sbane]

Let me tell you what I've realized.... I am not the healthiest fella on the planet but I can get around and enjoy life and 69 may not sound old to many of you but I didn't think I'd lvie this long when I was growing up...definitely not live the type of life I do now. I have realized much of life and health is simply how much you enjoy life- people I know who live the longest have the least stress and that makes them lives longer

If having a good hearty meal relaxes you- that is healtheir then the people I know (including my lady friend) who stress over exercise. That is one rason I try not to get worked up over some of the posts on this board- even the ones that offend me- because it is unhealthy to be stressed

Oh I definitely agree with you about stress and happiness. Living a happy life is good for your health as well. I think the trick is to make that hearty meal that gives you happiness more healthy for you. Substituting red meat for poultry or fish is a start. If you can completely replace that with legumes, even better. Eating vegetarian food shouldn't have to be bad. And vegetarian food certainly is not limited to a tasteless salad.

[Pacific Councillor Big Wiggly Style]

I like olot of meat AND veggies.

[memphis]

I'd have a lot of gastro trouble if the foundation of my diet was veggies, fruits, and beans. Whole grains are important. The gov't should have made the distinction between them and the super-refined garbage carbs that most people live on.

[VP Duke]

Protein makes up 50% of my diet most days. I try to eat 150g a day since I've starting hitting the weights pretty seriously. The second pyramid makes more sense. That said, as long as you aren't eating too many awful things it probably doesn't make much of a difference. My grandfather is 90 years old and still really active, and he eats "unhealthy" things all the time.

[The Mikado]

Wasn't the second pyramid revealed to have been partially written by dairy lobbyists and overprescribed the amount of dairy necessary by a huge amount, or am I misremembering?

[memphis]

Wasn't the second pyramid revealed to have been partially written by dairy lobbyists and overprescribed the amount of dairy necessary by a huge amount, or am I misremembering?

There's no real reason for anybody to eat dairy. Milk is for babies and most non-whites have a lot of trouble digesting it. That said, I love dairy products.

[TJ in Wisco]

Yikes if I followed the first one I would be deficient in pretty much everything. I'm already borderline iron deficient half the time and would probably do well to eat more beef not less. Not to mention the dairy being limited to twice weekly...let's throw calcium/bone problems into the mix as well.

[Redalgo]

Horrible Pyramids. My Freedom Pyramid's tiers go something like this:

Colas, Eggs, Dust
Potatoes, Hamburger
Fresh Fruits, Junk Food
Dairy, Peanut Butter, Peas
Whole Grains, Pizzas, Water

lol - maybe I make up for it a bit by shunning bacon, steak, and beer?

[Torie]

6-11 servings of the grains/pasta?  No!  I would still be a fat. 

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

The 4 food groups used in the '80s was fail.

[Senator Sbane]

6-11 servings of the grains/pasta?  No!  I would still be a fat. 

What do you think of the top pyramid? What kind of food do you eat since you decided to live a more healthy lifestyle?

[Senator Sbane]

Yikes if I followed the first one I would be deficient in pretty much everything. I'm already borderline iron deficient half the time and would probably do well to eat more beef not less. Not to mention the dairy being limited to twice weekly...let's throw calcium/bone problems into the mix as well.

If you are deficient in iron or calcium, you just have to eat vegetables that are high in those products. Lentils, soys, beans etc usually have these in high quantities and have a lot of protein, and in some cases fiber. There is no need for iron to only come from beef. There is no need for you to drink milk to get your calcium. The beef comes with a ton of unnecessary saturated fats. Casein in milk might increase your risk of cancer....well, that's the controversial part. In any case you should at least make sure the milk is non-fat.

[Vasall des Midas]

Wasn't the second pyramid revealed to have been partially written by dairy lobbyists and overprescribed the amount of dairy necessary by a huge amount, or am I misremembering?

There's no real reason for anybody to eat dairy. 

But neither is there any reason whatsoever not to do so regularly unless you have these digestion issues.

[Vasall des Midas]

The real answer is: it depends on how much work you do and how much stress you have. The less of the first and the most of the latter, the easier you'll grow fat on a diet of sweets and meat and cereals. Work being exclusively phsyical labour, of course.

[opebo]

It is rather absurd to be so concerned about what you eat - after all everything is the luck of the genes anyway.

I use a pyramid like this:

Milk - never, except in coffee or tea, and then mostly sweetened condensed
Fruits - rarely, don't really like them
cheese - rarely, mostly because its hard to find here
Organs - love them!
general vegetables
muscle meats - quite a lot, particularly fish, chicken, and pork.. I would eat more beef but its so-so here
Green leafy vegetables - mostly ones I'd never seen till I came here
rice - I would say the amount of rice, green-leafies, and meats that I eat are roughly equal

This, combined with utter laziness and strict avoidance of the sun has kept me in fine fettle.

[TJ in Wisco]

Yikes if I followed the first one I would be deficient in pretty much everything. I'm already borderline iron deficient half the time and would probably do well to eat more beef not less. Not to mention the dairy being limited to twice weekly...let's throw calcium/bone problems into the mix as well.

If you are deficient in iron or calcium, you just have to eat vegetables that are high in those products. Lentils, soys, beans etc usually have these in high quantities and have a lot of protein, and in some cases fiber. There is no need for iron to only come from beef. There is no need for you to drink milk to get your calcium. The beef comes with a ton of unnecessary saturated fats. Casein in milk might increase your risk of cancer....well, that's the controversial part. In any case you should at least make sure the milk is non-fat.

I'm not going to get 2400 mg of calcium a day eating almost exclusively beans and legumes. That's not going to happen. I need to be taking a ton of supplements. The calcium I could manage decently well most of the time but probably would end up with a few more occasional stress fractures which would really suck.

If I try to get iron only from non-heme sources, I would have to a ton more of it because the absorption would go down. I point-blank refuse to ever take iron supplements again unless I am in a state of health emergency. Taking them was the worst dietary experience I have ever had.

[Vote UKIP!]

I've always preferred the second pyramid.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[Senator Sbane]

Yikes if I followed the first one I would be deficient in pretty much everything. I'm already borderline iron deficient half the time and would probably do well to eat more beef not less. Not to mention the dairy being limited to twice weekly...let's throw calcium/bone problems into the mix as well.

If you are deficient in iron or calcium, you just have to eat vegetables that are high in those products. Lentils, soys, beans etc usually have these in high quantities and have a lot of protein, and in some cases fiber. There is no need for iron to only come from beef. There is no need for you to drink milk to get your calcium. The beef comes with a ton of unnecessary saturated fats. Casein in milk might increase your risk of cancer....well, that's the controversial part. In any case you should at least make sure the milk is non-fat.

I'm not going to get 2400 mg of calcium a day eating almost exclusively beans and legumes. That's not going to happen. I need to be taking a ton of supplements. The calcium I could manage decently well most of the time but probably would end up with a few more occasional stress fractures which would really suck.

If I try to get iron only from non-heme sources, I would have to a ton more of it because the absorption would go down. I point-blank refuse to ever take iron supplements again unless I am in a state of health emergency. Taking them was the worst dietary experience I have ever had.

Fair enough, it seems like your body need these products. I think it goes without saying though that most Americans can drastically reduce their intake of animal products and still be fine, in fact be much healthier. Even you probably can manage your iron with only a few servings of low fat cuts of red meat a week along with lots and lots of high iron vegetables. Balance is key as with everything. Also you can drink milk without fat and still get your calcium (leaving aside the controversial cancer findings).

I think a vegetarian diet needs a lot of variety, that I sometimes find lacking in American supermarkets. One food that has a lot of Iron, and my grandmother was recommended to eat after her bypass, is the trunk of the Banana plant. Haven't ever seen those in an American supermarket.

[Wrecking Ball and Chain]

What type of quack made that first one?

[Senator Sbane]

What type of quack made that first one?

What exactly do you disagree with there and what are you basing that on?

[Wrecking Ball and Chain]

The second one is pretty realistic, the first reminds me of some type of vegetarian propaganda (though obviously aimed at limiting meat eating instead of eliminating it)

[Senator Sbane]

Why is it propaganda? Can't the second one also be propaganda to protect the cattle and dairy industry? What are you basing this on?