What about the Four Food Groups?

The human body, over time, wants appropriate amounts of a variety of foods. Most of the world in all generations—and even among the seven billion living today—do not know what the food pyramids are. Notice the confusion from the so-called experts. None of the experts even agree on anything, neither what foods to emphasize nor the amounts from each food group. From 1956 until 1992, the United States Department of Agriculture recommended its “Basic Four” food groups, but it always had its controversies. Then there were almost 20 years of the confusing pyramids used by the World Health Organization (WHO) in conjunction with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and picked up by the U.S. in 1992. In a consumer survey, three of four Americans said there is too much conflicting/ confusing information about diet in these pyramids.

Contributing to this confusion were several dietary pyramids that have begun to compete for the public’s attention: The USDA Food Guide Pyramid, the Mediterranean Pyramid, the Asian Pyramid, and the Latin American Pyramid, among others. These pyramids were in use in 25 countries, each with their own ideas. What did these pyramids, all with seemingly different messages, mean for anyone?

So they dropped the pyramid approach. Now “MyPlate” is the current nutrition guide published by the United States Department of Agriculture, depicting a place setting with a plate and glass divided into five food groups. It replaced the USDA’s MyPyramid guide on June 2, 2011, concluding 19 years of USDA food pyramid diagrams. MyPlate simply reverts back to the simple food groups, except they have separated fruits and vegetables into separate groups—so there are five categories. They call fats “oils” now, and the amounts are still very confusing, and each organization and university has its own opinion. There is absolutely no consensus. Harvard wants milk off the list, saying it contributes to heart disease, and some groups want the list to contain all vegetarian foods. There is a complicated, long list from various places on good and bad foods. The food industry has a strong lobby in this “good foods” and “bad foods” indoctrination.

Read more in Weigh Down Works!