The Food Guide Pyramid - Seven Guidelines

These are seven guidelines for a healthful diet - advice for healthy Americans 2 years of age or more. by following the Dietary Guidelines, you can enjoy better health and reduce your chances of getting certain diseases. These Guidelines, developed jointly by USDA and HHS, are the best, most up-to-date advice from nutrition scientists and are the basis of Federal nutrition policy.

The Dietary Guidelines For Americans:

• Eat a variety of foods to get the energy, protein, vitamins, minerals, and fiber you need for good health.
• Balance the food you eat with physical activity - maintain or improve your weight to reduce you chances of having high blood pressure, heart disease, a stroke, certain cancers, and the most common kind of diabetes.
• Choose a diet with plenty of grain products, vegetables and fruits which provide needed vitamins, minerals, fiber, and complex carbohydrates, and can help you lower your intake of fat.
• Choose a diet low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol to reduce your risk of heart attack and certain types of cancer and to help you maintain a healthy weight.
• Choose a diet moderate in sugars: A diet with lots of sugars has too many calories and too few nutrients for most people and can contribute to tooth decay.
• Choose a diet moderate in salt and sodium to help reduce your risk of high blood pressure.
• If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation: Alcoholic beverages supply calories, but little or no nutrients. drinking alcohol is also the cause of many health problems and accidents and can lead to addiction.