Find out how to use a food pyramid to create a healthy diet.

A healthy-eating plan can be illustrated in many ways, but it’s often found in the shape of a pyramid. Food pyramids outline various food groups and food choices that, if eaten in the right quantities, form the foundation of a healthy diet.

The food pyramid plan

Guidelines for choosing foods are widely represented in various food pyramids. The triangular shape of the pyramid shows you where to focus when selecting foods. Foods to eat the most of create the base of the pyramid, and foods to eat in smaller amounts or less frequently are shown farther up the pyramid.

A food pyramid familiar to many Americans is MyPyramid (formerly known as the Food Guide Pyramid), established by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services. Many other pyramids exist, however. These include the Asian, Latin American, Mediterranean and Vegetarian diet pyramids developed by Oldways Preservation Trust, and the Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid, just to name a few.

Basic principles of all food pyramids

With the variety of food pyramids available, you may wonder which one to follow. It may help to know that the basic principles of food pyramids are largely the same and generally emphasize the following:

• Eat more fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
• Reduce intake of saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol.
• Limit sweets and salt.
• Drink alcoholic beverages in moderation, if at all.
• Control portion sizes and the total number of calories you consume.
• Include physical activity in your daily routine.

Food pyramids place foods in categories — such as dairy products or meat and beans — to help guide your food choices. No single food provides all of the nutrients that your body needs, so eating a variety of foods within each group ensures that you get the necessary nutrients and other substances that promote good health.

Food pyramid differences

Although food pyramids reflect the same general principles of healthy eating, they demonstrate different food choices. These differences reflect dietary preferences, food availability and cultural eating patterns. For example, the Latin American Diet Pyramid might include tortillas and cornmeal within the grains food group, whereas the Asian Diet Pyramid might emphasize noodles and rice.

Other differences include:

• Food groups. The food groups among food pyramids may vary somewhat. For example, some might group plant-based proteins — soybeans, beans and nuts — separately from animal proteins found in meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products. This is because animal proteins are often higher in fat and cholesterol, and some diets limit or avoid animal proteins.
• Serving recommendations. How food pyramids address servings also varies. The Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid, for example, recommends a daily number of servings from each food group. And it specifically defines serving sizes; for example, a serving of cooked brown rice is 1/3 cup and a serving of milk is 1 cup. But other plans offer more general guidelines, such as eating particular foods at every meal, or on a weekly or monthly basis. For example, the Latin American Diet Pyramid recommends that you eat whole grains, vegetables and fruits at every meal but eat red meat, sweets and eggs once a week or less

How to use a food pyramid

To see how your diet matches up to any of these pyramids, keep a food diary for several days. Then compare how much of your diet comes from the various levels. If you’re top-heavy, work your way toward the bottom of the pyramid by making small, gradual changes, such as eating more vegetables, fruits and whole grains and limiting fats and sweets.

Here are a few simple practices to help get or keep you on track:

• Choose a variety of foods from each major food group. This ensures that you get all of the calories, protein, vitamins, minerals and fiber you need. Choosing a wide range of foods also helps make your meals and snacks more interesting.
• Adapt the plan to your specific tastes and preferences. For example, a serving of grains doesn’t only mean a slice of wheat bread. It can be wild rice, whole-wheat pasta, grits, bulgur, cornmeal muffins or even popcorn.
• Combine foods from each major group however you like. For example, you might make a meal of tortillas (grain group) and beans (meat and beans group). Or you could top your fish with fruit salsa or serve steamed vegetables over pasta. The possibilities are endless.
• Select your meals and snacks wisely. Make the most of what you eat by choosing nutrient-rich foods within each group. And if you need to avoid foods from one or more food groups — for example, if you don’t consume dairy products because of lactose intolerance — choose other foods that are good sources of the nutrients found in those foods.

Remember to be open and creative, and go for good taste! Eating well and eating healthy are very compatible.

Guess what

French speakers are not the only lucky folks who could read The Dukan Diet anymore. The book is finally available in English right on time for the summer season! Lots of thanks to those thoughtful guys who translated it, so you all can receive first-hand information and enjoy the slimming results.
So, why waste time any longer—get the book, read what Dukan has to say, do the diet and get ready for the summer 2010!!!

4 Phases for a durable weight loss, with natural proteins

Official site: http://www.thedukandiet.org/

You’ve tried already several times to loose weight but were unsuccessful ? Here is one of the most performing and satisfying loss weight program !

The method comprises 4 successive steps: the Attack phase with purely natural proteins to boot-start a fast weight loss in less than a week, the Weight Loss phase with alternative proteins during which you’ll reach your target weight, the Stabilization phase with the re-introduction of all type of foods and finally the definitive Cruise phase.

As you’ll notice, the “Dukan Diet” weight loss concept is mainly based on alternative proteins that are acting like a 2 cycles engine with a diet period of pure protein and a symmetrical diet period mixing proteins and vegetables, hence the name Protal for “Proteines alternatives” (alternative proteins).

• Protal

offers a set of rules, precise and easy to follow, that doesn’t let room for false interpretations or false excuses.

• Protal is extremely efficient and 100% natural. The initial weight loss during the boot phase (“Attack”) reinforce the motivation to keep going.

• Protal doesn’t require weighing food or counting calories and doesn’t impose any quantity limits.

Before starting…

Before going into the details of the different phases, here are several things that you should bear in mind.

It’s all about you!!!

Well, this method, no question about it, delivers outstanding results… as long as you stick with it !! The rule number one is to set your goals upfront and to recognize when to stop (basically once you achieve your objective). The rule number two is to weight yourself a lot – at least once a day – in order to maintain your awareness, through the day, of what you’re trying to accomplish.

Natu

ral Pure Proteins ?

The “Dukan Diet” relies heavily on natural proteins. Theoretically, besides white eggs, there’s no natural pure protein aliment. It’s then require to select and group a set of aliments whose contents are as close as possible to pure proteins, like some types of meat, fish, seafood, poultry, eggs and fat-free dairy products. Go here to get more information on carbs vs lipids vs prot

eins.

Quantities ?

Both the Attack and the Weight Loss phases are completely all-you-can-eat ! Anytime during the day, any mix of selected food and with no limits ! This is wonderful to fight against cravings and to control hunger through quantitative compensations…

Budget ?

Well one of major issue of natural proteins is about your wallet…Yes fresh and tasteful beef, fish and seafood are expensive. Poultry and eggs are way more affordable, but you’ll need diversity to go through the program without getting bored of eating all of the same, everyday. Fortunately, it’s pretty common and easy nowadays to find fat-free, sugar free diaries that will counter balance the cost of protein-based meal.

Side effects ?

Proteins are not completely assimilated by your body, hence they have to be eliminated. This task is perfectly taken care of thanks to our kidneys as long as you increase your daily intakes of liquid. It will be then required to hydrate yourself more during the diet, especially during the pure proteins phases – at least 2 liters of mineral water is highly recommended.

What?

This phase is the kick-start of

the whole diet program. The weigh loss is usually outstanding and also extremely rewarding and motivating. It’s the easiest phase in term of what to or not to eat. It’s also the one that doesn’t tolerate any deviation. Stick with the list and you’ll be happy. This phase has usually a very positive psychologic impact, thanks to the results obtained in such a short but intense battle with yourself.

The duration of the Attack phase is usually only around 5 days. It does depend however on your endeavor. The rule of thumb is usually:
- if you plan to loose less than 10 lbs, duration is only 2 days. Weigh loss is 1 to 3 lbs during this phase
- if you plan to loose less than 20 lbs, duration is only 3 days. Weigh loss is 3 to 5 lbs during this phase.
- if you plan to loose less than 40 lbs, duration is only 5 days. Weigh loss is 4 to 6 lbs during this phase.
- if you

plan to loose more than 40 lbs, duration is at least 7 days.

Please note, it shouldn’t exceed 10 days and if you’re in this situation, drink a lot, a lot of water and please check first with your doctor.

The basic rule is to eat only proteins. This phase is also called PP for Pure Proteins.Basically you can eat, only:

1. Veal and Beef: steak, filet, ground beef (<10% fat)… well almost everything except T-Bones. You can’t use butter or any fat to panfry, so be creative: use a non-stick pan, grill, bbq or roast the meat in the oven. You can cook it the way you want but, for your information, the more the meat is cooked, the less grease will remain, hence getting closer to pure protein.

2. Poultry (except duck and goose). Try to eat the white meat first and avoid the dark meat and the crispy skin in roasted chicken. Sliced smoked turkey are convenient if you travel and extremely lean.
I usually cook chicken breast s

trips with some lemon juice and paprika… yummy !!!

3. All seafood and fishes (steamed, smoked, grilled), but not canned with olive oil!!! Surimi (imitation crabmeat) is a perfect snack. Some fishes are pretty moist even after being cooked in the oven: orange roughy, black cod, monkfish, sea bass and so on…
I’m personally a big fan of smoked salmon for breakfast….

4. Eggs (pure white if you can or egg beater). Eggs should be limited to 3-4 per week if you keep the yolk, unlimited

otherwise.
I usually go with egg beater, splenda and cinnamon (and a pinch of non-fat cooking spray if you don’t want to ruin your pans)!!!

5. Fat free dairy (milk, plain yogurt or cottage cheese). I highly recommend the organic fat free milk from Central Market (HEB) and Horizon. For the yogurt, try the plain fat free yogurt from Cascade Fresh, and if you’re looking for something different, Fage is making a fat free version of its Greek yogurt. I don’t recommend fat free yogurt with fruit pulp in phase 1, but if you really have a problem with plain yogurt, you can have one cup of fruity, fat free, sugar free, yogurt per day. I highly recommend the fat free Light & Fit yogurt from Dannon. Fat free milk can be used with tea or coffee or to prepare sugar free flans, sauces an creams.

6. You really need to drink a lot of water. All mineral waters are recommended, especially the diuretic ones. Avoid sparkling waters as they are too salty (except the Perrier). I love drinking Evian, that could be found at Whole Foods and Central Market

Please note:
- you can use some aspartame or splenda if needed
- vinegars, herbs, thyme, parsley, onions, garlic,…and most spices are authorized and highly recommended to improve the taste and create some diversity in your meals.
- salt an

d mustards are authorized but in small quantities (make sure you don’t take sugar-added mustard. I recommend the plain mustard from Maille).
- you can drink diet sodas but not gallons because of the sodium
- there’s a bunch of fat free, sugar free candies at World Market. Try the Licorette or the Läkerol pastilles.

and as many as you want: unlimited, whenever you want !!

Besides the benefits of proteins on the calories intake (see here for details), protein based meal are reducing the appetite (especially compared to fatty junk food!!). Usually after 3 or 4 days of protein-based meal, the hunger disappear almost completely, so hang on!!! It makes the rest of the process much easier when you don’t have to deal, as in most diet, with this: hunger !!!

Do

- eat whenever you’re hungry, but only using the list above. it’s the best way to counterbalance treats deprivation.
- carry constantly with you some of those foods to fight cravings.
- make the mental exercise of ensuring the appropriateness of the product you’re about to eat.
- weigh yourself everyday to measure your progress and stay motivated. You can also weigh yourself several time a day. You’ll be amazed by the changes.
- drink

a lot of water, at least 2 liters per day, if possible diuretic waters (see here): you need to cleanse your body from all the protein waste. Try to drink 2 glasses of water during your meals.
- take multi vitamin supplement if the phase is to last more than 5 days.
- take a bit of flax oil if you experience intestinal transit problems, but normally increasing a lot you water intakes should take care of this.

Don’t

- don’t e

xercise intensively. Your body may be naturally tired the first 3 days.
- don’t skip any meal. You need to maintain the routine, even-though you’ll notice you’re going to reduce progressively your intakes.
- don’t use butter or oil. Steam, grilled or smoke (Rudy’s fan, you know where to go).
- don’t eat bread or cereals for breakfast. Try smoked salmon, fat free yogurts, or egg beaters omelets.
- don’t add sugar, fruit or jelly in your fat free dairies.
- don’t use ketchup (too much sugar).
- don’t go to restaurants during phase I, it would be very frustrating. If you really have to (business trip), go to a steak house and have some grilled beef.
- reduce salt. it increases yo

ur appetite and doesn’t help flushing the fluids.

Summary

Duration is between 2 to 7 days.

This phase is done exclusively with pure proteins. It’s the most challenging and rewarding phase. It’s a strong foundation for the success of the whole program.

This phase requires absolutely no deviation, no pause, no excuse….and no exercise !!

Please note: this phase is

also used in phase 2.

What?

This is the phase that will lead you to the target weigh loss you wished before starting the diet.

This phase is in-fact structured in 2 alternated sub-phases that will end once you reach your goal. The sub-phases are:
- a sub-p

hase of vegetable with proteins (PL)
- a sub-phase with only proteins (PP)

We’ve just covered the pure proteins (PP) for the Attack phase. This section will cover more in details the Proteins + Vegetable phase (PL for Legume).

There’s no rule of thumb about the duration of each phase. As per Dr Dukan, the best result are achieved when each sub-phases last 5 days. I personally prefer to alternate every 7 days. Monday to Sunday. It fits better with my agenda if I need to plan for some business trip (PP is tough with business trip ).

The good news is that all the rules that applies in PP, applies also in PL. This means you can eat as much as you want, anytime you want. All the foods that were listed in the Attack Phase, are yours forever. In the PL phase, we are mainly adding the missing savor of vegetables…

You can mix and match proteins and vegetables as you want, but don’t make the mistake of solely eating vegetables during the PL phase. You need to feed yourself with proteins.

The allowed vegetables are (raw or cooked):
- tomatoes, cucumbers, radish, spinach, broccoli, asparagus, leeks, cabbages, mushrooms, celery, fennel, zucchinis, egg plant, bell peppers, any types of salad and even carrots and beets (moderatly)

All the starchy food is still banned:
- rice, potatoes, corn, all peas and beans, lentils and of course avocados (considered a fruit btw)

Artichoke is allowed but in very limited quantities.

Dressing:
As mentioned before, oil is not your friend in this diet program. You need to use some fat free, no sugar-added dressings. Central Market has a very good one. Or be creative, use lemon juice, fat free yogurt, vinegars (my fa

vorite: raspberry), herbs or spices.

Cooking method:
No oil. No butter. Use some cooking spray or boil them in water with some spices. Or even better buy a steamer and some fresh organic veggies from Whole foods. You’ll rediscover the genuine taste of broccoli !!
Another favorite is BBQ (especially the asparagus !!). You can also cook the vegetables directly with fish or beef and take advantage of some of the fat from the meat (like in a stew).

This phase will lead you to your target weight. You can expect on average to loose 2 to 3 lbs per week eating as much as you want. Of course there will be some days, even weeks, where the weight loss may not be, unfortunately, what you expect. Hang on there !! This is normal, especially during the PL sub-phases, but as long as you keep alternating PLs and PPs, you should enjoy roughly that rate.

Do

- alternate consecutive days of PL with consecutive days of PP. Dr Dukan recommends 5 days cycles.
- go to steak house and ask for the steamed veggies
- eat whenever you’re hungry, but only using the list above. it’s the best way to counterbalance treats deprivation.
- carry constantly with you some of those foods to fight cravings.
- make the mental exercise of ensuring the appropriateness of the product you’re about to eat.
- weigh yourself

everyday to measure your progress and stay motivated. You can also weigh yourself several time a day. You’ll be amazed by the changes.
- drink a lot of water, at least 2 liters per day, if possible diuretic waters (see here): you need to cleanse your body from all the protein waste. Try to drink 2 glasses of water during your meals.
- take multi vitamin supplement if the phase is to last more than 5 days.
- take a bit of flax oil if you experience intestinal transit problems, but normally increasing a lot you water intakes should take care of this.

Don’t

- in case you decide to stop here, don’t stop !! Don’t give up before you reach your target !
- in case you’re really giving up, do the stabilization phase if you don’t want to gain back right away all those deserved lost pounds.
- don’t skip any meal. You need to maintain the routine, even-though you’ll notice you’re going to reduce progressively your intakes.
- don’t use butter or oil. Steam, grilled or smoke (Rudy’s fan, you know where to go).
- don’t eat bread o

r cereals for breakfast. Try smoked salmon, fat free yogurts, or egg beaters omelets.
- don’t add sugar, fruit or jelly in your fat free dairies.
- don’t use ketchup (too much sugar).
- reduce salt. it increases your appetite and doesn’t help flushing the fluids.

Summary

Duration is based on an average 2-3 pounds loss per week.

This phase alternates proteins with vegetables. This is the phase that will bring you to your target weight.

What?

Congratulation, you achieved your goal !!! Beware now that all those lost pounds and frustrations are in fact on stake if you don’t pursue correctly the stabilization phase. It’s absolutely required to go through this phase. It’s true that you

deserve the result you achieved but don’t overestimate yet your ability to control your weight from now. Triumphalism is a dangerous emotion. The weight you managed to touch is not granted yet.. you need to go now through this last effort to make it yours, forever.

You’ve just finished the Weight Loss phase with the PL sub-phase, and for the first time this morning, the weight scale is displaying the number you’ve been fanatically dreaming of. Warning, if you’re tempted about going further hoping to secure a buffer before starting the consolidation, don’t : you need to focus on your next challenge now.

I’m going to provide to you the rules you’ll have to comply with for the stabilization but first let’s talk about duration. Your body has to get acquainted now with your new weight. This takes time if you want to secure your efforts. The basic formula is to consider 4 days 1/2 per lb. So let’s say you lost 20 lbs, you’ll need then to comply with the stabilization phase for 90 days.

So what can you eat….

1/ The first good news is that you don’t have to alternate anymore PL and PP sub-phases: the stabilization phase is based on the PL aliments as described before.

2/ We are also reintroducing in this phase all the foods we’ve missed during phase I and II, but with the following restrictions:
- one serving

of fruit per day. All the fruits are authorized but bananas, grapes, cherries and nuts.
- 2 slices of whole wheat bread per day.
- one serving of cheese per day (around 40g).
- 2 serving of starch food per week (pasta, couscous – 7 oz / lentils, rice, potatoes – 5 oz). Avoid butter and oil as much as you can to cook those.
- once or twice per week, you can have the following new meats: lamb, porc, ham.

3/ now the good news. in this phase you’re also allowed 2 full unrestricted meal per week but with the following guidelines:
- 2 meals not 2 days
- no refill !
- the 2 meals have to be apart by at least a day

You’re allowed to have a whole lunch or dinner, including wine and desert. Of course, you need to be moderate, if you’re planning to drink a whole bottle of wine, have some Queso and finish with a whole cheesecake, you missed the point. Those 2 meals are bringing diversity and quality, don’t make them orgies. I would suggest going to some fine restaurant with reasonable serving sizes.

Enjoy those frugal meals, Take the time to appreciate the savors you’re rediscovering. Question yourself about the subtlety of the food you’re enjoying.

4/ In order to counter balance those unrestricted meals, you need to keep one, just one day of PP per week. Try to pick up the same day every week, like the monday. It’s up to you to decide for the day but you need to stick with that day as much as possible.

Do

- comply with the calculated duration
- keep track of the food you’re having on a weekly basis to ensure you’re complying with the rules
- enjoy your unrestricted meals
- carry constantly with you some of those foods to fight cravings.
- make the mental exercise of ensuring the appropriateness of the product you’re about to eat.
- weigh yourself everyday to measure your progress and stay motivated. You can also weigh yourself several time a day. You’ll be amazed by the changes.
- drink a lot of water, at least 2 liters per day, if possible diuretic waters (see here): you need to cleanse your body from all the protein waste. Try to drink 2 glasses of water during your meals.
- take multi vitamin supplement if the phase is to last more than 5 days.

Don’t

- don’t take any refill during your unrestricted meals.
- don’t have your two unrestricted meals in a row.
- don’t confuse “twice a week” with two days a week
- don’t skip any meal. You need to maintain the routine, even-though you’ll notice you’re going to reduce progressively your intakes.
- don’t use excessively butter or oil. Steam, grilled or smoke (Rudy’s fan, you know where to go).
- reduce salt. it increases your appetite and doesn’t help flushing the fluids.

Summary

The duration is an average of 9 days per 2 pounds lost during phase.

This phase is aiming at hampering gettig those lost pounds back!

This is the phase where you’re the most vulnerable mainly because of your overconfidence .
In this phase, you can almost eat anything you want but with some (small) restrictions and progressive food re-introductions.

What?

Do

Don’t

Summary

Forever.

Finally ! This is your daily life. Your only commitment is a unique day per week of pure proteins.

Related articles:

• Nutrition Facts in the context of healthy eating and dieting
• The First Customized Diet Book by P. Dukan M.D.
• Pierre Dukan, M.D. – Q&A the new “My Weight Book”
• Pierre Dukan, M.D. Protal Plan – Nutrition Facts
• Pierre Dukan, M.D. – Exclusive Interview