# The food pyramid **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 26, 2016, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185 "2016-03-26T01:34:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185/1 "2016-03-26T01:34:44Z")
[![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_pyramid_(nutrition)#/media/File:USDA_Food_Pyramid.gif) ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_pyramid_(nutrition)#/media/File:USDA_Food_Pyramid.gif) Often in paleo diets (and my “Belly Fat Cure” diet) they don’t eat **ANY** of the “most important” part of the pyramid… the bottom part (bread, cereal, rice, pasta) We’re meant to have 6-11 servings per day but I have NONE. Also in many diets such as my diet and I think in the Mediterranean diet we have quite a lot of “healthy” fats. (avocado, nuts (with about 70-80% fat), butter, olive oil, etc) Is it a coincidence that obesity became a problem when the government started promoting this “healthy” eating pyramid? (something like that) (I also have a lot of servings of meat, fish, eggs, nuts, etc - not just 2-3 servings - besides fats and vegetables, that is most of my diet) :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185/2 "2016-03-26T01:53:05Z")
Oy vey. What’s next? Pitting blood letting as a cure for diseases? The food pyramid has been obsolete for years. Besides, it wasn’t the food pyramid that was a problem, per se, but the elimination of fats and ramping up sugars. “Low Fat” processed foods are typically chock full of sugar, especially HFCS. The food pyramid didn’t tell people to start drinking 32 OZ sodas. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185/3 "2016-03-26T02:16:03Z")
What about this one then? > **[Food pyramid (nutrition)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_pyramid_(nutrition)#/media/File:MyPyramidFood.svg)** > > A food pyramid is a representation of the optimal number of servings to be eaten each day from each of the basic food groups. The first pyramid was published in Sweden in 1974. The 1992 pyramid introduced by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) was called the "Food Guide Pyramid" or "Eating Right Pyramid". It was updated in 2005 to "MyPyramid", and then it was replaced by "MyPlate" in 2011. > Amid high food prices in 1972, Sweden's National Board of Health and Welfare developed the i... It’s from 2005 and seems to say to eat at least twice as many grains as meats (and beans). Yet as I mentioned I and people on paleo diets eat ZERO grains (and no beans). Also one of my points is not that it might be related to obesity, it is that many people have ZERO of what they say to have heaps of yet I consider myself to be healthy. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185/4 "2016-03-26T02:23:10Z")
The paleo diet is a fad diet. There is nothing at all wrong with grains and beans: they’re healthy for you, yummy, and, in fact, beneficial by being filling. They satisfy hunger, and thus assist dietary discipline. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185/5 "2016-03-26T02:30:33Z")
Why can’t you just keep your diet issues to one thread? ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185/6 "2016-03-26T02:32:15Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > The paleo diet is a fad diet. There is nothing at all wrong with grains and beans: they’re healthy for you, yummy, and, in fact, beneficial by being filling. They satisfy hunger, and thus assist dietary discipline. My main point is not that grains are definitely bad. I am saying they aren’t necessarily REQUIRED to be healthy but that is what those food pyramids seem to say. Also hunter gatherers are often on a paleo diet so in isn’t always a fad diet. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185/7 "2016-03-26T02:34:21Z")
Belly fat. It’s what’s for dinner. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185/8 "2016-03-26T02:40:20Z")
Kibble on the bottom, garbage on top … eat more kibble than garbage or your asshole will get raw. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185/9 "2016-03-26T02:42:42Z")
Dang, JC. You seem to have a monomania about diets. I’d suggest you pick up a new hobby. Have you considered exercising regularly? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185/10 "2016-03-26T02:48:32Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > The paleo diet is a fad diet. Besides being a fad, it’s also rubbish. None of the stuff you’ll supposedly be eating on this diet is what the cavers did; it’s not just humans that evolve. And that’s not to mention that cavers in different parts of the world ate different stuff. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185/11 "2016-03-26T02:50:08Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > Kibble on the bottom, garbage on top … eat more kibble than garbage or your asshole will get raw. I’m eating heaps of the things on top (healthy) fats and zero of what’s on the bottom yet I think I’m healthier than when I followed the food pyramid. And my asshole isn’t raw. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185/12 "2016-03-26T02:51:29Z")
This can’t be healthy. The obsessive focus on Your Diet, 24-7, to the point where you have 2 scales. In all seriousness, talk to your doctor (both of them). ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185/13 "2016-03-26T02:54:01Z")
> [@ddsun](#): > > This can’t be healthy. The obsessive focus on Your Diet, 24-7, to the point where you have 2 scales. In all seriousness, talk to your doctor (both of them). What has this got to do with me pitting food pyramids? Also I think the fats I eat now are healthier than what I used to focus on (margarine), etc, etc. I think it is good to compare scales. I found that some mechanical scales in a store differed by 5 kg! ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185/14 "2016-03-26T02:58:18Z")
A moment ago you mentioned your asshole. Could you unpack that for us a bit? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185/15 "2016-03-26T03:00:51Z")
It’s good to see someone finally getting to the bottom of the Great Scale Scandal of the 21st Century. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_Hey_Paula)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185/16 "2016-03-26T03:02:27Z")
(Channeling William Daniels as John Adams in _1776_) Oh, good _God!_ ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185/17 "2016-03-26T03:05:42Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > Also hunter gatherers are often on a paleo diet so in isn’t always a fad diet. All 10 of them? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185/18 "2016-03-26T03:06:33Z")
This is the Pit. Discussion frequently moves in directions unenvisaged by the OP. Let’s take a look at your OP and see why this might be happening, other than the dozen or so other threads that you have opened recently on Your Diet-TM. > [@JohnClay](#): > > [Food pyramid (nutrition) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_pyramid_(nutrition)#/media/File:USDA_Food_Pyramid.gif) > > Often in paleo diets (and my “Belly Fat Cure” diet) they don’t eat **ANY** of the “most important” part of the pyramid… the bottom part (bread, cereal, rice, pasta) > > We’re meant to have 6-11 servings per day but I have NONE. > > Also in many diets such as my diet and I think in the Mediterranean diet we have quite a lot of “healthy” fats. (avocado, nuts (with about 70-80% fat), butter, olive oil, etc) > > Is it a coincidence that obesity became a problem when the government started promoting this “healthy” eating pyramid? (something like that) > > (I also have a lot of servings of meat, fish, eggs, nuts, etc - not just 2-3 servings - besides fats and vegetables, that is most of my diet) > > :rolleyes: Here’s your problem. This isn’t a Pit OP. It’s a series of statements about what you’re eating, the diet you are following, etc. A blog post of sorts. Since you already have a Pit thread going about Your Diet-TM, this thread is a mystery. Unless, of course, what you really wanted to do was ask a question or start a new thread about Your Diet-TM without running into a Mod who would shut that shit down. Since you seem to be skating by in the Pit, I’m going to be cynical and go with that. You’re unable to stop posting on Your Diet-TM and we will now be treated to an endless stream of diet Pit threads. Can you at least TRY to follow some sort of Pit format? I pit “other people’s stupid diets” because “reasons that are NOT that they eat things differently than I do.” ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185/19 "2016-03-26T03:08:20Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > All 10 of them? With their average lifespan of 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185/20 "2016-03-26T03:11:31Z")
> [@ddsun](#): > > This is the Pit. Discussion frequently moves in directions unenvisaged by the OP. > > Let’s take a look at your OP and see why this might be happening, other than the dozen or so other threads that you have opened recently on Your Diet-TM. > > Here’s your problem. This isn’t a Pit OP. It’s a series of statements about what you’re eating, the diet you are following, etc. A blog post of sorts. Since you already have a Pit thread going about Your Diet-TM, this thread is a mystery. Unless, of course, what you really wanted to do was ask a question or start a new thread about Your Diet-TM without running into a Mod who would shut that shit down. Since you seem to be skating by in the Pit, I’m going to be cynical and go with that. You’re unable to stop posting on Your Diet-TM and we will now be treated to an endless stream of diet Pit threads. > > Can you at least TRY to follow some sort of Pit format? I pit “other people’s stupid diets” because “reasons that are NOT that they eat things differently than I do.” A fine analysis. Bravo!! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-food-pyramid/750185.md?page=2)