Food Pyramid – A guide to a balanced diet

What is food pyramid?

“It shows the different food groups and how much of each we need to have a healthy diet”.

What are the major food groups?

The major food groups are as follows:

1. Grains

2. Fruits

3. Vegetables

4. Poultry

5. Dairy products.

The detail about these food groups is given below.

Grains: Grains include wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley or other cereal grains.

Poultry: Poultry includes meat and meat products i-e beef, mutton, chicken, fish, eggs etc.

Dairy products: Dairy products include milk and milk products i-e butter, cheese, yogurt etc.

Visual representation of Food Pyramid:

It is a graphic depiction of a healthy diet for sedentary adults. This consists of six segments representing one food group in each. At the apex are the recommendations for fats, oils and sweets that should be sparingly used. Below this, is the meat, poultry, fish, eggs and nut group on the left side and on the right side is milk, yogurt and cheese group. The dietary recommendations are 2-3 servings of these should be taken in a day. Next, below this are two more groups; the fruit group (right) and the vegetable group (left). It is recommended that 2-4 servings of fruits and 3-5 servings of vegetables should be consumed in a day. The base of the pyramid consists of cereals. This is the major source of energy and quite important for the sedentary adults. 6-11 servings are recommended from this group.

In other words:

• Eat Most – Grains
• Eat More – Vegetables and fruits
• Eat Moderately – Meat, fish, egg and alternatives
• Eat Less – Fat/ oil, salt and sugar
• Drink adequate amount of fluid including water, tea and coffee

• The food pyramid is designed to make healthy eating easier. Healthy eating is about getting the right amount of nutrients i-e proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals you need to maintain a healthy state of health.
• Since different foods have different nutritional values, it is not possible to obtain all the nutrients we need from a single food. According to the Healthy Eating Food Pyramid, we have to eat a variety of foods among all food groups as well as within each group in order to get different nutrients and meet our daily needs.
• Food pyramid is addressed to all persons, except in cases where doctors prescribe a certain diet to the patient.

●The above recommendations are intended for healthy individuals only. Those with chronic diseases and specific nutritional needs should consult their family doctors and dietitians for individualised dietary recommendations.