In 1972, when faced with the necessity of rising prices on food, the Swedish commission in charge of health came up with the idea of creating a food pyramid starting from the basics, and climbing towards supplements. The idea was to maintain the prices of the basic foods and only increase those of the supplements.
The graphic representation of the pyramid was meant to remove the shortcomings of other diagrams that, although they divided foods into a number of groups, failed to express in a simple and visible way the quantity of food required from each group for a person to preserve health. The pyramid, on the other hand, made it clear that the higher the group of foods, the less one needed or was allowed to eat from that group.
Thus, at the base of the food pyramid we find milk, cheese, bread, potatoes, and cereals, followed by vegetables and fruits. The top of the pyramid covered meat, eggs and fish. Although it has been often overlooked, water was included in the foods at the bottom of the pyramid, due to the proven health advantages it brought.
The idea of the pyramid has been embraced by nutritionists all over the world, but its content was often reviewed. Food that was considered healthy at a certain point was proven just the contrary after a couple of years, and further studies were conducted proving that not all the foods in one category had the same impact on human health.
For instance, distinction was made between processed sugar and sugar in its natural form, which is more easily digested. If, in the beginning, pyramids failed to make the distinction between healthy and unhealthy oils, time and science showed that unsaturated fats can help prevent heart diseases, accelerate metabolism and help with weight loss.
If most pyramids were based on a horizontal structure, the American version was made of five vertical stripes, one for each food group and an extra stripe representing oil.
As people began to develop new eating habits, eliminating meat or dairy from their diets, pyramids for lactose intolerants and vegetarians were also developed.
Later on, the pyramid turned into a plate divided into four sections, each corresponding to a separate category, respectively vegetables, fruits, grains and proteins. The idea was to make it clear that half of the food we eat at one meal should consist of vegetables and fruits, while the other half should include grains and proteins.
Moreover, the vegetables’ and grains’ sections are larger than those of the fruits and proteins. Dairy products are represented separately, as a cup next to the healthy plate.
Besides presenting valuable information for everyone’s understanding, the pyramids and the plate representations also make it easier for people to memorize the basic principles of healthy eating and to apply them in everyday life.
Be it a food pyramid or a plate, the idea it follows is the same: although variety is the key word, we should all follow a certain pattern, eating more food from the basic categories and less supplements.