The Diet

he first half of the twentieth century was a period of massive growth in nutrition knowledge not only in the US but all throughout the world. The main goal of nourishment advice at this time was to help people select foods to meet their energy (calorie) needs and avert nutritional deficiencies.

Throughout the Great Depression of the 1930s, food was rationed and people had little money to buy food. They needed to know how to select an ample diet with few resources, and the USDA produced a set of meal plans that were affordable for families of various incomes. To this day, a food guide for low-income families—the Thrifty Food Plan—is issued regularly by the USDA and used to determine food stamp allotments. In addition to meal plans, the USDA developed food guides—tools to help people select healthful diets. Over the years the food guides changed, based on the current information available.

Food guides are sensible tools that people can use to choose a healthful diet. Food guide recommendations, such as how many servings of grains to eat, are based on dietary guidelines that are overall suggestions for healthful diets. For example, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans include the recommendation that Americans “choose a variety of grains daily, especially whole grains.” To help people reach this goal, the USDA”s Food Guide Pyramid is built on a base of grain foods and recommends six to eleven servings daily with several servings from whole grains. Thus, the Food Guide Pyramid supports the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines.

Nutritional and Low Fat Meal Guidelines

1. Commit to consuming 4 – 6 small meals and snacks every day.
2. To succeed, you must plan ahead by packing your foods the night before. Thus, you should always have fresh and low-fat foods around.
3. Keep it simple. Don’t get too caught up on the specifics or your diet. Start by simply just counting calories.
4. Eat your foods slower.
5. Make healthier food selections like fruits, vegetables, whole grain cereals, and beans, low-fat or nonfat dairy products, low fat meats, fish and skinless poultry.
6. Avoid foods that are high in fat and calories.
7. Avoid foods that are high in sugars such as pastries, candy bars, pies and candy.
8. Use a variety of fruits and vegetables in your nutrition plan. Start by trying to eat 5 total vegetable and fruit servings every single day.