Do You Ever Wonder About the Food Pyramid?

Jacob's assignment for Friday is to write down what he eats for one day. So he's to list what he eats for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, and then write the food in the correct column of food groups.

We talked about the pyramid, and we talked about the bread, cereal rice & pasta group. I told him that most people eat white bread, etc, but the guideline is really for whole grains. I asked him if he thought 6-11 servings of grains would be good for you, especially if most are white. Of course he said no, and thought that the recommended servings should be lowered to 5-6, which is still a bit much in my opinion.

This got me to thinking....Why is a grain-based diet pushed so much and touted as healthy when the majority of Americans wouldn't dream of trading in their white flour bread, rice and pasta for the whole grain version? Why isn't our diet fruit and vegetable based? Even the vegan food pyraid has 6-11 servings of the bread group.

By now everyone knows that there is little to no nutrition in white flour products, which is why the bread you buy at the store is enriched with all the stuff found in whole grains naturally. Yes, white bread tastes better, especially for toast. There's really no comparison to white toast vs. whole wheat toast, usually. Unless, of course, we're talking about a slice of my flax wheat bread. :)

Anyway...I just think it's a mistake to put forth eating so much bread-type foods as healthy--even if it is whole grain. Sure, Laura Ingalls and her family survived on whole grain bread during the long winter, but that doesn't mean we who have more and better choices have to do the same. (And what about Pa Ingalls pigging all those pancakes without a thought for his family???)

If I were creating a Food Pyramid, it would go like this:

6-11 servings: vegetable and fruit group
2-4 servings: whole grains
1-3 servings: nuts, seeds
1-2 servings: healthy fats (coconut oil, flax seed oil, extra virgin olive oil)
Use sparingly: meat, dairy

But what about calcium? And protein? and how can I give up cheese??

Did you know that you can get a lot of the calcium you need from leafy greens? Yep, it's true! And a good handful of spinach or kale has almost as much protein in it as a serving of beef. So drink those green smoothies, people! Yum-o!