The limitations of the USDA Food Guide Pyramid have resulted in serious criticisms about the effectiveness of the Pyramid as a tool and led nutrition experts to question its usefulness in
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The limitations of the USDA Food Guide Pyramid have resulted in serious criticisms
about the effectiveness of the Pyramid as a tool and led nutrition experts to question its
usefulness in designing a healthful diet. One major criticism is that it is overly simple and does
not help consumers make appropriate food selections within each food group. For example, all
the grains and cereals are grouped into one category with no distinction made between whole and
refined grains or carbohydrates. A serving of Fruit Loops “counts” the same as a serving of
oatmeal.
Yet nutritionists know that whole-grain foods contain important nutrients, such as fiber,
vitamins, and minerals-nutrients that are typically lost when grains are refined. To help make up
for this loss, some of these nutrients, but not all, are added back through a process called
enrichment (or fortification). Whole grains are also high in fiber, increase the feeling of fullness,
and are typically digested more slowly than refined grains, gradually releasing glucose into the
blood. In contrast, refined-grain foods are low in fiber and typically high in simple sugars,
causing a spike in blood qlucose and contributing to increased hunger shortly after their
consumption.
A second criticism is that the Pyramid makes a poor distinction between healthful and
unhealthful fats. All the facts are lumped together at the tip of the pyramid, and consumers are
told to use them “sparingly.” Not all fats have the same effect on health so they cannot be easily
grouped together. We want to limit our intake of saturated and trans fats, while making sure our
diets are adequate in the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats that are essential for good
health and may protect against disease.
A third criticism is the serving sizes suggested in the Food Guide Pyramid are unrealistic or do
not coincide with typical serving sizes of foods listed on food labels. For instance, one serving of
a muffin as defined in the Food Guide Pyramid is 1.5 ounces, but most muffins available to
consumers range from 2 ounces to 8 ounces! The way that foods are packaged is also confusing
to consumers. Unless people read food labels carefully, it is easy to consume an entire package
of a food that contains multiple servings and assume that the entire package is equal to one
serving. For example, it is common to find soft drinks sold in 20 fluid ounce bottles. Although
the serving size listed on the label is 8 fluid ounces, and total servings per bottle is listed as 2.5,
most people just drink the entire bottle in one sitting and assume they had one soft drink.
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