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Check out this image that give you a visual understanding about how the foods you eat everyday are broken-down in your body.
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The Food Guide Pyramid was the model for healthy eating in the United States. Maybe you had to memorize its rainbow stripes in school.But the USDA, the agency in charge of nutrition, has switched to a new symbol: a colorful plate —called MyPlate — with some of the same messages:
Eat a variety of foods.
Eat less of some foods and more of others.
The pyramid had six vertical stripes to represent the five food groups plus oils. The plate features four sections (vegetables, fruits, grains, and protein) plus a side order of dairy in blue.The big message is that fruits and vegetables take up half the plate, with the vegetable portion being a little bigger than the fruit section.And just like the pyramid where stripes were different widths, the plate has been divided so that the grain section is bigger than the protein section. Why? Because nutrition experts recommend you eat more vegetables than fruit and more grains than protein foods.The divided plate also aims to discourage super-big portions, which can cause weight gain.
Pyramid vs. Plate: What's different?
While the basic nutritional guidelines for Americans remain the same, the USDA Plate and the old pyramid do have a few noticeable differences
Less emphasis on grains. The food pyramid was dominated by grains, which filled in the largest spot at the bottom of the pyramid in the original version, and the large orange vertical bar in the 2005 version. The Plate version reserves only one quadrant for grains (with an emphasis on whole grains) and really focused on fruits and vegetables, which take up half the plate—more than any other food group. Many nutrition experts see this as a major improvement since Americans tend to fall short of reaching their minimum 5-a-day requirements. If half of the food you ate at each meal was comprised of vegetables and fruits, you'd have no problem reaching 5-9 servings of fresh, frozen, cooked or canned produce each day.
No mention of fats and oils (or sugars for that matter). These appeared on the old pyramid, shown in small quantities with the message to eat these foods rarely or in small amounts. These don't show up anywhere on the Plate, despite the fact that not all fats are created equal and that dietary fat is essential to optimal health. One could assume that the foods you include on your plate are going to contain fat, or be prepared in some source of fat, but the fact that it's not mentioned at all as part of a healthy diet may seem questionable—especially when Americans tend to consume too much of the wrong kinds of fats. Don’t despair, a quick click to the ChooseMyPlate.gov site provides in-depth information about fats, oils and added sugars.
Bye, bye serving sizes. Not only did the food guide pyramid tell you how many servings of each food group to consume each day (such as 6-11 servings of grains), but it somewhat alluded to how large a single serving actually was. The Plate does not depict or mention how many servings you should eat of any particular food group, nor how big a serving actually is. Many nutrition professionals have been using a plate method similar to this to educate clients for years. The assumption is that if you eat off of a normal sized plate (nine inches in diameter or smaller), and if you don't pile your food up too high, you're eating a normal, healthy amount for weight management. In a sense, the lack of serving sizes makes the Plate simpler to implement and understand than the pyramid once was. And for more specific amounts of foods needed for children, teens, adults (even during pregnancy and breastfeeding), the ChooseMyPlate.gov site allows you to enter your personal data and get an individualized eating plan.
Where's the beef? While the pyramid featured food groups, the plate mixes in one other element: nutrients. At least as far as protein is concerned. Protein is a nutrient found in various foods, not an actual food group, which has left some people perplexed. Fruits (food), vegetables (food), grains (food), and milk (food) are all represented, but protein (nutrient) seems out of place. The USDA says that in their test groups, Americans of all racial and ethnic backgrounds understood what "protein" meant: a variety of sources (meat, eggs, dairy, nuts, seeds, beans, soy, etc.). Some critics say that protein is found in many foods already listed on the Plate, such as grains, milk and even vegetables, and that this might confuse consumers. Other critics of this approach feel that Americans will only think of "meat" when they hear the word protein, even though plant-based proteins are also healthful and should be included in one's diet. Most likely, simplifying the once tongue-twisting name (the meat, beans, nuts, and legumes food group) into "protein" was just easier when designing this graphic. After all, simplicity and ease of understanding is the main goal of the Plate.
Although no single image can possibly convey all the complexities of nutrition and healthy eating, many see the Plate as an improvement over the pyramid of our past. According to the USDA and other food experts, the simple Plate icon is easier to understand. You can look at it once and easily remember what it conveys, and which food groups it includes. Most people couldn't say the same about the complexity of the food pyramid.
What's a Grain Again?
You know what fruits and vegetables are, but here's a reminder about what's included in the three other food groups: protein, grains, and dairy:
Protein: Beef; poultry; fish; eggs; nuts and seeds; and beans and peas like black beans, split peas, lentils, and even tofu and veggie burgers. Protein builds up, maintains, and replaces the tissues in your body.
Grains: Bread, cereal, rice, tortillas, and pasta. Whole-grain products such as whole-wheat bread, oatmeal, and brown rice are recommended because they have more fiber and help you feel full.
Dairy: Milk, yogurt, cheese, and fortified soy milk. With MyPlate, the dairy circle could be a cup of milk, but you also can get your dairy servings from yogurt or cheese. Choose low-fat or nonfat dairy most of the time.
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I picked this topic because many people in the world
always wonder why they can eat a big serving of what they call “food” and not
be full yet. This is what causes them to over eat and gain weight. This is not
their fault; most people are under educated when it comes to the food they eat.
They don’t understand what processed foods do to their bodies versus the
benefits of natural “whole” foods. I’m going to explain a few reasons as to why
you don’t get full after eating that big bag of chips, or those burgers and
fries off the dollar menu.
Almost all food is processed before it is eaten some
go through more intense processing than others. Here is some helpful info you
should read before I continue. Courtesy of http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au
Stability
of nutrients during processing and storage
Some vitamins are more stable (less affected by processing) than others.
Water soluble vitamins (B-group and C) are more unstable than fat soluble
vitamins (K, A, D and E) during food processing and storage. The most unstable
vitamins include:
Folate
Thiamin
Vitamin
C.
More stable vitamins include:
Niacin
(vitamin B3)
Vitamin
K
Vitamin
D
Biotin
(vitamin B7)
Pantothenic
acid (vitamin B5).
Many things can affect a food’s nutrient content
There are a variety of things that happen during the growing, harvesting,
storing and preparing of food that can affect its nutritional content.
Fertilizers
Most plant crops are produced with the aid of fertilized soils. Fertilizer
tends to reduce the vitamin C content of the crop, while increasing its protein
value. It doesn’t seem to make any difference to the plant’s nutrient value
whether the fertilizer is organic or not.
Milling
Cereals, such as wheat, are ground to remove the fibrous husks. The husks
contain most of the plant’s dietary fiber, B-group vitamins, phytochemicals and
some minerals.
That’s why products such as white bread are less nutritious than whole meal
varieties, even if they have been artificially fortified with some of the nutrients
that were lost after milling. It is impossible to add back everything that is
taken out, especially the phytochemicals. The ‘fiber’ that is added back to
some products is often in the form of resistant starch, which may not be as
beneficial as the fiber removed.
Blanching
Before a food is canned or frozen, it is usually heated very quickly with steam
or water. The water soluble vitamins, including vitamin C and B-complex, are
sensitive and easily destroyed by blanching.
Canning
Food is heated inside the can to kill any dangerous micro-organisms and extend
the food’s shelf life. Some types of micro-organisms require severe heat
treatment and this may affect the taste and texture of the food, making it less
appealing. Preservatives are generally not needed or used in canned foods.
Water soluble vitamins are particularly sensitive to high temperatures. Many
people believe that canned foods are not as nutritious as their fresh
counterparts; however, this is not always the case, as fresh food often deteriorates
more rapidly than canned foods.
Freezing
The nutrient value of a food is retained when it is frozen. Any nutrient losses
are due to the processing prior to freezing and the cooking once the frozen
food is thawed.
Pasteurization
This is the heating of milk to destroy micro-organisms. The nutrient value of
milk is generally unaffected. In the case of pasteurized fruit juices, some
losses of vitamin C can occur.
Dehydrating
Drying out foods, such as fruits, can reduce the amount of vitamin C they
retain but it can also concentrate other nutrients, particularly fibre in plant
foods. Dehydrating food also makes food products more energy dense, which may
contribute to weight gain. If a dehydrated food is reconstituted and cooked
with water, further nutrients are leached out of the food and lost in the
cooking water.
Preparation of vegetables
Most vegetables are peeled or trimmed before cooking to remove the tough skin
or outer leaves. However, the bulk of nutrients, such as vitamins, tend to lie
close to the skin surface of most vegetables. Overzealous trimming can mean a
huge reduction in a vegetable’s nutrient value.
Losing nutrients through cooking
Some vitamins dissolve in water, so you lose your vitamins to the cooking water
if you prefer to boil your vegetables. Alternative cooking methods – such as
grilling, roasting, steaming, stir-frying or microwaving generally preserve a
greater amount of vitamins and other nutrients.
The benefits of cooking food
It would be inaccurate to say that cooking food always lessens the nutrient
value. Cooking can be advantageous in many ways, including:
Making
the food tastier.
Breaking
down parts of vegetables that would otherwise be indigestible.
Destroying
bacteria or other harmful micro-organisms.
Making
phytochemicals more available; for instance, phytochemicals are more
available in cooked tomatoes than in raw tomatoes.
Preserving the nutrient value of vegetables
Some suggestions to retain the maximum nutrition in the foods you cook include:
Store
foods properly, such as keeping cold foods cold and sealing some foods in
airtight containers.
Keep
vegetables in the crisper section of the refrigerator.
Try
washing or scrubbing vegetables rather than peeling them.
Use
the outer leaves of vegetables like cabbage or lettuce unless they are
wilted or unpalatable.
Microwave,
steam, roast or grill vegetables rather than boiling them.
If
you boil your vegetables, save the nutrient-laden water for soup stock.
Use
fresh ingredients whenever possible.
Cook
foods quickly.
Things to remember
The
nutrient value of food is almost always altered by the kind of processing
it undergoes.
The
water soluble vitamins are the most vulnerable to processing and cooking.
Careful
cooking and storage will help retain the nutrients in your food.
The food we eat today is very different then the
food our ancestors ate, if you want to eat what the generations before us ate
it comes with a price tag. This exact reason is why most people fall victim to
processed foods without even thinking about why the food is so cheap. I posted
two very informative videos below; take a look at them and start doing your own
research on processed foods & the chemicals within them. We have to change
the way we eat to create a better life for us and our children.
Please subscribe to our blog for more informative
posts.
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