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Vegetarians who thought no one was on their side will be happy to know that a group of doctors are going to bat for a meat-free alternative to the food pyramid.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) filed suit with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) -- who drafts the country's official food pyramid, MyPyramid -- after it ignored their petition offering a vegetarian alternative called the Power Plate, reports the Chicago Tribune. They say the USDA is blind to the rising rates in obesity and diabetes, which became common after the first pyramid was presented almost two decades ago. But they don't just want a supplemental vegetarian pyramid; they want to withdraw the old and instate theirs.
The Power Plate, available here on the PCRM site, has no portion recommendations and instead simply advises getting an equal balance of fruits, grains, legumes and vegetables, which are divided equally on a plate-shaped graph that looks more like a company logo than a guide.
The L.A. Times warns that PCRM skews heavily toward animal rights, so instead of eating less meat, they'd rather you not eat any meat at all. Maybe we do need a new pyramid, but maybe instead of scrapping the old and advising everyone to go vegetarian, how about one that caters to different body types? Or maybe we could glean a philosophy of eating from the Mediterranean pyramid, or the Asian pyramid.
Diet and nutrition are touchy subjects, and a one-size-fits-all system rarely works. Some say those O blood types need their meat. In moderation, of course.
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1-11-2011 @5:00PM newsy1 said... I'm no expert but if a new food pyramid is in order I would think it needs to be done by a group of health experts that have nothing to gain or don't have an agenda to push. http://newsy1.wordpress.com
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1-11-2011 @11:11PM Belinda - Healthy Affordable Weight Loss said... The food pyramid has been wrong for a long time, but that's not why we have an obesity crisis. There's a lot of miseducation and misinformation, and people are too busy to think about what they're eating so the default is to just eat what's easy.
This debate has been going on for a while. Here's a pro-Atkins story from 2004:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4326777/ns/dateline_nbc/
Atkins is not the way to go for everyone, either. But the fact is, 70% of Americans are overweight NOW, so to get the weight off, it's necessary to restrict carbs, then reintroduce them in small amounts, like 2-3 slices of bread PER DAY for eventual weight maintenance.
Dr. Wayne Andersen, co-founder of Take Shape For Life (http://www.tsfl.com), recommends eating on a 9" plate, filling it half with green veggies, 1/4 with protein, and 1/4 with carbs. The plate automatically restricts portion size (no seconds), and dividing the plate means no measuring. Seems easy enough. I teach this to my clients after helping them take the weight off using the TSFL protocol.
http://www.healthyaffordableweightloss.com
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1-13-2011 @1:05AM Yashirah said... i think there should be a food pyramid for every individual's choice of lifestyle, whether they are vegetarian, or even if they are vegan or neither. They should be able to know what food's to eat to stay healthy.
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2-03-2011 @12:55AM Veggie said... Finally there are is someone who understands and acknowledges vegetarianism as a way of life and don't treat it as a hobby.
http://www.vegetarian-zone.com
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1-16-2011 @12:14AM JoAnne said... I've never followed the food pyramid. Even as a vegetarian. What works for me is portion control, no processed foods, no restaurant /fastfood (too much sodium and fat content) and cooking from scratch which is not hard. With a stocked pantry,having the basics on hand, a little planning, you can put together a home cooked meal. I love my crock pot.
It would be interesting to see a vegetarian/vegan food pyramid.
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1-16-2011 @2:42PM the food pyramid said... The food pyramid is only a guideline. A person should pick whatever suits their way of living.
Food pyramids in other countries look different.
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