Summary

Current USDA Recommendations

This isn’t meant to be an article against the USDA. I personally like looking at the variations that have come out, since 1916. A Brief History of USDA Food Guides. Communication on health and wellness is important, so having something is a good thing. Obviously it can go too far though; see the “1992: Food Guide Pyramid” rendition. I like to remember that the USDA is suggesting what American citizens should eat, not the global human population. They also have a mission that includes supporting agriculture ( USDA does stand for United States Department of Agriculture! ), so milk is not on there by a mistake.

Canada’s Food Guide is almost the same using a plate. This site is well put together with and incorporates ideas from Blue Zones around environment settings and enjoying your food with others. A one size fits all model is great for general guidelines to look at. However, a toddler, a 23 year old male, and a 82 year old female likely should be eating different amounts and different ratios from each group.

Changes

I personally eat close to the Harvard updated version with even more vegetables and less whole grains and proteins. Though, I do actually drink one glass of milk almost daily with a banana. My dairy consumption is way down from when I was younger (Dairy: 6 Reasons You Should Avoid It at all Costs). Obviously, there are all sorts of factors to the right balance for a particular individual.

I’d challenge them to put sugar and alcohol as items to avoid consuming on the actual diagram. I understand that it doesn’t say to eat them, but it would be more impactful to almost have them listed as a warning label. Various versions in the past in fact did this exact thing.

Also, limiting sugar and sugar substitutes that cause overeating is a huge issue, but I’m not sure quite how to fit them. You can see that both fats and sugars had been broken out in previous models released by the USDA. Overall, anything is excess is likely causing bad reactions within our bodies.

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