Nutrition

Nutritional Food Pyramid

The United States Department of Agriculture has recently published a new version of the famed nutritional food pyramid that supposedly leads to a healthy diet. This nutritional pyramid is similar to how it’s always been, but does have a few changes. According to the USDA, it is important to have a full understanding of this new pyramid as a key to having a healthy diet, and important to teach younger people this new pyramid to teach them good nutritional habits and to encourage a lifelong healthy diet.

The most important difference between this new pyramid and the old nutritional pyramid is the fact that none of the food groups are on top of any others any longer. Instead, all of the food groups are vertical stripes running the length of the pyramid and with a width that suggests the nutritional value of each and the number of servings each group should be allotted. This is to suggest that none of the categories contributes to a healthy diet more than another, and that all should be considered.

1. Grains

In particular for having a healthy diet, the USDA suggests consuming at least 3 ounces of whole grains a day. It is commonly believed now that whole grains are healthier than refined grains and offer better nutritional value. In particular, eating whole grain breads and cereals can be an easy substitute for refined grains to serve your nutritional needs.

2. Vegetables

The USDA recommends getting anywhere from 1-3 cups of vegetables a day, depending on your age and gender. It is important to note that 2 cups of leafy vegetables often counts as 1 cup of vegetable servings. The USDA also suggests that darker greens and orange vegetables are high in nutritional value. They also suggest that a healthy diet requires a variety of vegetables.

3. Fruits

It is especially important to have a healthy diet high in fruits. The USDA recommends only slightly less fruit in one’s diet than vegetables, but still several cups each day, depending on your age and gender to get the best nutritional value from your food.

4. Milk

The USDA now defines the milk category to be any milk-based products such as milk, cheese, yogurt, or milk-based desserts. A healthy diet, they say, should include about 3 cups of milk or milk products a day for everyone above a child’s age.

5. Meat and beans

For a healthy diet, the USDA recommends eating 5-6 ounces for most people above children’s age. They say that most Americans consume enough from this category already, but do not make choices that are lean and healthy enough.

6. Oils and fats

Most of the oils and fats that Americans consume come from, as the USDA says, cooking oils and fish and nuts. For most people, the allowances of oils and fats are 5-7 teaspoons per day, however the difference between this group and the others is that oils and fats have an allowance. This means that these oils and fats do not contribute to a healthy diet; instead, a healthy diet involves limiting this group as much as possible.

Exercise Tips

For someone without a regular exercise routine, starting on the path toward living a healthy life through adding exercise can be difficult and, initially, seem insurmountable. While most doctors may recommend getting thirty minutes of exercise a day, this can seem preposterous to one who has never had a serious health regime before. Instead of convincing yourself to go to a gym for a week before giving up, instead try incorporating aspects of a healthy life into your manageable but less than healthy life, such as adding small amounts of exercise here and there on your way to proper health.

1. Take the stairs

If you live or work in a building with multiple stories and you usually take the elevator, try taking the stairs instead. This may seem daunting, but if you are serious about having a healthy life, this can really be a great way to get in a little exercise. If this seems impractical because you, say, live on the fortieth floor of a high rise, try doing it in steps. Walk up to the tenth floor before getting on the elevator, or get off the elevator a few stories lower than your floor. Similarly, try taking the stairs downstairs. Walking downstairs can have great health benefits, but may feel much easier than going up, so you’ll be inclined to doing more, making the transition to a healthy life easier. Stairs can also be a great place to get a little bit of exercise for good health in if you’re feeling so inclined, but don’t have the time to traipse all the way over to a gym.

2. Walk to close places

Rather than driving to the corner store or to a local restaurant, try walking instead. Walking is a great way to fit in some exercise to your new, healthy life, without the stress of running. Moreover, walking can be calming, and can offer a bit of relaxation in between an otherwise packed schedule, thus contributing to healthy life both mentally and physically. To motivate yourself to do this, think about all the traffic you’ll bypass by walking, and how you won’t have to worry about parking. If you’re worried about having to carry home purchases, bring along a backpack or other type of bag to make it easier. Not only will this contribute to your healthy life, but the carrying of your purchases has a fair few health benefits as well. Similarly, if you work at a desk and have to speak with a colleague frequently, rather than calling him or her, as part of your new, healthy life, instead try walking over to see the colleague. If the colleague is busy at the moment, you will have another reason to go speak with him or her later, giving you more exercise and more health benefits, just from working.

3. Do clenches while sitting

Doing muscle clenches can be a great use of otherwise wasted time. If you have a long commute to work or spend a lot of time sitting at a desk, try clenching muscle groups in turns to get a work out. A good work out to improve your health could consist of 20 second interval clenches of 12 times each, perhaps with a few reps in turns. Though they won’t seem like much at the time, strong, simple workouts can be a great path to a healthy life, and may often have more health benefits than you would have thought.

4. Laugh more

Laughing is a great health tip, and only offers positive benefits for someone on the road to better health. Doing all you can to laugh as much and as hard as you can is a great way to get in shape and stay happy about it.