Show Notes
If you read some low-carb sites, or Gary Taub's books, you will find the contention that the food pyramid - the last one being in 2011 - put America into a low fat, high carb diet responsible for today's obesity. That the government food pyramid misled a generation of people, and because we faithfully follow it, we became fat. The problem is, that isn't the case, but I want to go back in time and see why we have those government issued guidelines, and see where we are today. Dietary Recommendations The first major food guide appeared in 1943. It wasn't even a pyramid. It was called the Basic Seven. Created to prevent malnutrition and maintain stamina during World War II, it categorized foods into seven groups and served as the precursor to the modern food pyramid: 1: Green and Yellow Vegetables (e.g. leafy greens, green beans, carrots). 2: Oranges, Tomatoes, Grapefruit (or other raw greens high in Vitamin C). 3: Potatoes and Other Vegetables/Fruits (e.g., apples, potatoes, beets). 4: Milk and Milk Products (e.g. fluid milk, evaporated milk, cheese). 5: Meat, Poultry, Fish, or Eggs (as well as plant-based proteins like dried beans and nuts). 6: Bread, Flour, and Cereals (focusing on whole grain or enriched varieties). 7: Butter and Fortified Margarine (specifically noted to provide necessary calories and Vitamin A during rationing). The Basic Four These came out in 1956 to help a growing America. doctors worried about malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies. Diseases such as pellagra, rickets, and scurvy were still being treated. A breakdown of the 4 food groups and how they currently fit into a balanced, healthy routine: 1. Fruits & Vegetables 🥦Focus: Whole forms (fresh, frozen, or canned without added sugars).Benefits: Packed with essential vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber.Goal: Aim to make half your plate fruits and vegetables at meal times. 2. Grains 🌾Focus: Whole grains (oats, brown rice, whole-wheat bread).Benefits: Provides vital carbohydrates and fiber for sustained energy.Goal: Make at least half your daily grains "whole" to get the most nutritional value. 3. Protein 🥩Focus: Lean proteins like poultry, fish, eggs, legumes (beans/peas), nuts, and seeds.Benefits: Builds muscle mass, repairs tissues, and keeps you full.Goal: Include a portion of protein with every meal to keep metabolism regulated. 4. Dairy 🥛Focus: Milk, yogurt, and cheeses (or calcium-fortified plant alternatives).Benefits: Crucial source of calcium and vitamin D for strong bones and teeth.Goal: Opt for low-fat or unsweetened varieties whenever possible to limit excess sugar 1979 What to Avoid Directly after the Basic Four, the USDA introduced the Hassle-Free Daily Food Guide (1979). The Hassle-Free Daily Food Guide (1979–1984) What changed: It kept the core Basic Four, but added a fifth group: Fats, Sweets, and Alcohol. Purpose: This was the first time a group was explicitly highlighted for the public to consume only in moderation. The transition away from the Basic Four marked a major shift in government policy: instead of just telling Americans to eat enough nutrients to avoid deficiencies, the focus changed to preventing chronic illnesses by telling people what to limit. The Food Guide Pyramid (1992–2005)
The first guide to feature highly specific daily serving sizes across six distinct categories. Grains formed the massive base (6–11 servings), followed by fruits and vegetables, then dairy and meat, with fats/sweets resting at the tiny top peak. Fair Criticisms of the Food Pyramid None of this means the Food Pyramid was perfect. In fact, there are several reasonable criticisms. First, the pyramid did not do a great job distinguishing between whole grains and refined grains. A bowl of steel-cut oats is different from a sugary breakfast cereal, but both could look similar on a simple graphic. Likewise, the pyramid often treated fats as a single category when we now know that olive oil, nuts, and fish are different from trans fats and highly proces
More from Fork U with Dr. Terry Simpson
With all the spices we have access to, it is amazing how bland recipes have become. I have many cookbooks, some from great chefs, television personalities, and friends. What I am always surprised by is how bland the food has become. People seem to think a bit of salt, pepper, maybe onions, and garlic provide the spices one needs. Perhaps it is because some associate spice with heat. Mostly because many have never experimented with some of those great warm spices available. A pinch of coriander, some freshly ground cumin, a little cardamom, or a touch of cinnamon can turn an ordinary dish into something remarkable. And the most astonishing part is that these spices financed voyages around the world, built cities, created fortunes, and caused people to kill one another. Without the spice trade, it is safe to say that the United States, as we know it, would be vastly different from what it is now. The money loaned to the United States, when we were a fledgling country, came from the wealthy spice merchants from what was considered one of the great hyperempires of the world, based in Amsterdam. But before we go to the birth of the United States, let me take you to the meatball.
Tea: The Drink That Built an Empire—and Helped Break One China had the tea. Britain had the appetite. John Hancock had a business to protect.
MesoAmerica and Chocolate In our series looking at foods that built civilizations, today we are going to stay in the Americas with chocolate. Chocolate has been used as currency, consumed by kings, incorporated into religious ceremonies, and prescribed as medicine. Today, it is a multibillion-dollar industry that wants you to believe that eating chocolate is an act of preventive cardiology. I mean, why not? They convinced us to give chocolate to people we love, eat it when we are happy, when we are sad, when only the dog understands us. Don’t feed chocolate to your dog. And we have done all this with a bitter seed that most of us would probably spit out if we tasted it straight from the tree.
I’ve been doing a series about foods that built civilizations. In this episode, we are talking about the potato. It is difficult to imagine that thousands of years ago, people constructed large buildings, managed rivers, built monuments, and created art. We have glimpses of these civilizations through stories, archaeology, and the structures they left behind, but much of their history has been lost. Imagine, we don’t even know where Cleopatra or Alexander the Great are buried, yet we know their stories. As European powers conquered Indigenous peoples, their languages, cultures, and oral traditions were suppressed. When a language disappears, so are the stories preserved within it. Our clues come from archaeology when we uncover a monument, a building, or an ancient settlement. In the Andes, the potatoes they cultivated were not the Russets, Yukon Golds, or fingerlings you find in the store today. Different colors, shapes, and textures. Adapted to survive the elevations, temperatures, and growing conditions. Biodiversity protected their food supply against frost, disease, and changing environmental conditions. If one variety failed, another might survive. The ancient wisdom of diversity that Andean farmers developed over thousands of years was lost when the potato eventually reached Ireland.
In our series about foods that built civilization, we talked a lot about grains, from wheat to corn to rice. Today, we are taking you to the ocean, with the civilizations that salmon built. From California to the interior of Alaska, salmon, a staple, allowed people to settle into villages, develop complex social networks, art, and trade routes. Those trade routes are as large as the ones in the Mediterranean. Some tribes built communal homes and developed complex art and language. Some were Seafaring tribes with canoes up to 60 feet long that traveled across oceans. All because there was a fish that would return in large numbers to streams and rivers, reliably, predictably. So predictable, the people could build their lives around salmon runs. So much so that some built a calendar not only with lunar cycles, but also with the return of the salmon. Civilizations have always gathered around food and water. The Mediterranean connected people who grew wheat and olives, giving people time to make wine, mine copper, build ships, trade with their neighbors, and occasionally go to war with them. Asia had rice and grain near the great river systems. The reliable calories from rice and grains allowed villages to become cities and to travel by water to trade. Today we are going to my home, from the Ventura River in California to my home state of Alaska.