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In 1992, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) published a food guide aimed at encouraging people to eat more healthily. This was known as the food pyramid and it provided a guideline to the categories and quantities of food that should be consumed every day. This pyramid is still widely used on food packaging and is represented by horizontally-divided sections that depict the type and portion of foods people should eat. This guide to healthy eating was last updated in 2005, and the next update is due in 2010. Critics of the 1992 pyramid have pointed out its recommendations are erroneous and lack clarity. For instance, dietary practices such as consuming 3 cups of whole milk and 8 oz. of hamburger daily, as suggested by the pyramid, have been linked to heart disease. Furthermore, the food pyramid didn't differentiate between different types of protein, such as eggs, nuts, meat, poultry, fish and dry beans, which were lumped under one label. Additionally, it was not clarified if serving sizes were the minimum or maximum recommended portions. In 2005, the USDA took a different tack to promote healthy eating. It retooled the 1992 pyramid, sectioning it into vertical, rather than horizontal, colour-coded sections. The thickness of the colored stripes indicates the recommended portions that should be consumed by both children and adults. As such, the purple and yellow bands for meat and oil, respectively, are thinner than the ones representing grains, vegetables, fruits and dairy (orange, green, red and blue). In addition to the different representation of food portions and categories, the new pyramid also depicts a figure climbing up stairs on the side of the pyramid. This is indicative of the importance of physical activity, or the further "steps" that are required to enjoy a healthy life. The kind of foods a person eats can make a palpable difference to their health. Not only should one watch what they eat, portion control and constant physical exercise are key elements to a healthier life. At the end, I'd like to share cool website with more details on topics like Food Pyramid and Vegetarian Food Pyramid. Visit for more details.
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