The Food Guide Pyramid
The committee’s key recommendations, based on scientific evidence for lowering risk of chronic disease and promoting health, include:

1. Balance calorie intake.

Get your quota of nutrients first, within your recommended calorie intake. Spend your calories on nutritious foods first, then spend any extra calories - up to your recommended daily allowance - on the less nutritious foods. Take in more calories from nutrient dense foods and beverages and fewer calories from these foods:

• Saturated fats
• Trans fats
• Cholesterol
• Added sugars
• Salt
• Alcohol (adults only)

2. Maintain a healthy body weight.

• Balance calories taken in from foods and beverages with calories spent in physical activities.
• Over time, make small decreases in the amount of calories taken in and small increases in exercise and physical activity.

3. Keep physically active.

• Engage in regular physical activity.
• Achieve physical fitness (cardio fitness).

4. Eat the right foods in the right amounts.

• Follow the general guidelines found in My Food Pyramid

5. If in doubt, toss it out.

• Follow the four food safety steps.

6. Adults who use alcohol should use it only in moderation.

Click here for more detailed information about the Dietary Guidelines, The Dietary Guidelines are the basis for Federal nutrition policy which is interpreted in part through The MyPyramid Food Guidance System (e.g., the Food Guide Pyramid). The Food Guide Pyramid provides food-based guidance to help implement the recommendations of the Guidelines. The 2005 Food Guide Pyramid is shown below.

The key points from the Food Guide Pyramid include:

• Consume a sufficient amount of fruits and vegetables while staying within energy needs. Two cups of fruit and 21/2 cups of vegetables per day are recommended for a reference 2,000-calorie intake, with higher or lower amounts depending on the calorie level.
• Choose a variety of fruits and vegetables each day. In particular, select from all five vegetable subgroups (dark green, orange, legumes, starchy vegetables, and other vegetables) several times a week.
• Consume 3 or more ounce-equivalents of whole-grain products per day, with the rest of the recommended grains coming from enriched or whole-grain products. In general, at least half the grains should come from whole grains.
• Consume 3 cups per day of fat-free or low-fat milk or equivalent milk products.
• Consume less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fatty acids and less than 300 mg/day of cholesterol, and keep trans fatty acid consumption as low as possible.
• Keep total fat intake between 20 to 35 percent of calories, with most fats coming from sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, such as fish, nuts, and vegetable oils.
• When selecting and preparing meat, poultry, dry beans, and milk or milk products, make choices that are lean, low-fat, or fat-free.
• Limit intake of fats and oils high in saturated and/or trans fatty acids, and choose products low in such fats and oils.

For more detailed information click here for the Food Guide Pyramid.