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"A healthy body leads to a sound mind"
Remember the old Arabic proverb that
your mother always told you, a healthy body leads to a sound mind". Once
again mom is right. The way to reach and maintain a healthy body is by eating
nutritious foods that represent the proper proportion of each of the food
groups. To reach that goal, you need to be aware of the type of food
that need to be consumed and how much of it you need to eat. This information
is summarized by the Food Guide Pyramid. In this article, I will describe the
components of the Food Guide Pyramid and give you some tips on improving your
health.
What is a Food Guide Pyramid?
A Food Guide
Pyramid is an outline of what a person needs to eat each day to
maintain healthy eating habits. When this Food Guide Pyramid is followed
properly and is balanced with moderate daily physical activities, it will
improve your health. Notice from the Food Guide pyramid figure shown is that
the base of the pyramid is the most important and you need to
work your way
up, with fats, oils, and sweets being the least nutritious. They supply
empty calories, which means they supply calories but little to no vitamins
and minerals. Based on the Food Guide Pyramid, each day, a person needs the
following:
6-10 serving of Grains such as Couscous, Pita Bread, Rice, or
Bulgur. Grains provide complex carbohydrates (starches), which are an
important source of energy. Grains also provide vitamins, minerals, and
fiber.
3-5 servings of vegetables such as spinach, cucumber, potato,
eggplant, Broccoli, and Okra. If some of these vegetables are cooked try to
steam them rather than boil them to preserve the nutrients. However, if you
prefer boiled vegetables, make sure not to over boil them since that will
destroy some of the vitamins in these vegetables. Vegetables provide vitamins
(such as vitamins A and C, and foliate) and minerals (such as iron and
magnesium) yet they contain very low fat-4 serving of Fruits or fruit
juices such as Apples, Grapes, Bananas, and watermelon. Fruit and fruit
juices provide essential amounts of vitamin A and C and potassium. Some
juices save even been supplemented with vitamins to meet the daily
requirement of particular vitamins 2-3 servings of Milk such as Goat’s
milk, Jibneh, or Lebneh. Milk products provide protein, vitamins, and
minerals. Milk, yogurt, and cheese are the best source of calcium.
2-3
servings of meats such as beef, lamb, chicken. If you are a vegetarian, you can
substitute the meat for dry beans, eggs, or nuts. Meat, poultry, fish, eggs,
nuts, or beans supply protein, vitamins, iron, and zinc.
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