Understanding what to eat, when to eat it and how much to eat can sometimes be the difference between a healthy diet and an unhealthy one, that is the reason that food pyramids are so widely used in these recent times to diffuse the healthy choice confusion. What the food pyramid does is to guide you through the food choices and the quantity of the choices that can be considered as healthy consumption.  The groups of food that are located at the top of the pyramid should appear less in what you consume daily, therefore it is safe to say that the ones at the bottom of the pyramid should take up more of your daily diet. The items at the bottom are whole wheat foods and other whole grains; these can range from cereals, breads, biscuits, pastas etc. Whole grains are a good source of fibre and they also supply minerals and vitamins because they go through less processing when the by-products such as whole wheat flour, are being made.

You will find many bottled punches, ales and sodas that promise a full serving of fruit, but this is not recommended for the 2-4 servings of fruit that you should consume on a daily basis according to the guide provided by the food pyramid. If you insist on getting the bottled juiced, look for those that claims to have 100percent fruit juice as these generally contain more actual juice and less sugar and concentrate.  Fruits and vegetables follow whole grains on the pyramid because they are an excellent source of vitamins and or potassium and they do not produce a lot of sodium or fat. The serving size for the vegetables as per the food pyramid is 3 to 5 on a daily basis. Fish, meat and poultry is up next on the agenda because the aim is to get a balanced healthy meal. While the meat is necessary for the protein and iron, you should consume it moderately and according to the recommended serving size, which is 2-3 servings daily of no more than 2-3 ounces at each time. Peas and beans also fall into this category so feel free to add them to the meal. Try to choose meat with more lean than fat and if there is excess fat on the meat, try to cut it off before you begin to cook it, try to also limit the amount of frying that you do, baking and broiling is good.



 Dairy is the next item on our pyramid list as we make our way to the top; this is an essential addition to provide calcium and other vitamins. The serving sizes that are recommended by the food pyramid varies and is dependent on the group that you fall in, If you are pregnant or lactating or a young adult or teenager, it is recommended that you get at least 3 servings each day, while the average person should have about 2 servings for the day.  When most people hear dairy they think milk, then they start to stray off into ice-cream, cheese, butter and other stuff that contains calories, sodium and sugar. It is not recommended that you consume too much of these by products because the additives are plenty and will affect the balance of your diet, try to have them in moderations or find alternatives such as yogurt and skim milk cheese. The items at the top of the pyramid are there because they should be consumed in lesser quantities than anything else in our diets and this is where all the desserts and candies and syrups and butter and margarine are stored.  I am sure they taste good, but these items contain a lot of added sugar and not much else.

A food pyramid and a BMI calculator is a perfect combination for a healthy body, the pyramid as you know will be your food guide and the BMI calculator will be your weight guide, what it does is to calculate whether or not you are over weight, underweight or if your weight is normal based on the input of your current weight and your height into the calculator.