For 15 years, Australia's healthy eating pyramid has remained the same. In that time, our understanding of nutrition and nutritional balance has shifted. So diet pros have celebrated the news that Nutrition Australia has revamped its healthy eating pyramid to reflect changes in nutritional knowledge.
What's in the new healthy eating pyramid?
Imagine shopping for quinoa, cous-cous, and tofu two decades ago? These fancy ingredients are now, as recommended by Nutrition Australia, essential items for a healthy and balanced diet.
The original healthy eating pyramid in 1980 featured a whole lot of white – with Aussies being told to "eat mostly" breads, pasta, and cereals. Dairy and meat products were on the next level up, while the top of the pyramid featured sugar, margarine, butter, and spreads.
Now, the pyramid looks a little like this:
- Layers split into food groups with more detail
- Sugar taken out of the pyramid entirely, and lumped with salt with the message ‘limit salt and added sugar' next to a giant red cross
- An emphasis on vegetables, legumes and some fruits on the lower level
- Herbs and spices, and a tip to drink water added to the side
- The top layer now features just healthy fats, unlike previous versions that included less healthy fats
Why was the healthy eating pyramid changed?
Nutrition Australia says the basis of the pyramid is the same as the original – eating mostly plants with vegetables and grains forming the main part of a healthy diet.
However, with processed and foods and sugar now known as a leading cause of obesity and obesity-related diseases, these items have now been removed entirely.
And because we're all suffering from information overload and confusion when it comes to what we should eat, the new pyramid aims to educate, simplify and demystify the message.
Originally published on Jun 09, 2015
