The Nasty Truth Behind ‘The Food Pyramid’
What is food? Food is any material consumed to provide nutrition to the organisms. In modern terms’ food is generally of animal, plant or even fungi origin, and includes vital nutrients, including proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates, fats, and minerals. Since it has taken a rather complicated course of evolution, the process of digestion has also undergone a remarkable change. It is now a highly complex process involving both physical and chemical reactions.
The main source of carbohydrates in the human diet are mainly found in plants, which provide a large number of both simple and complex sugars (such as glucose), which are later converted into fats and stored energy in our muscles. Plants can be divided into two categories: the vegetables, which include beans, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, corn, lettuce, peas, potatoes, and squash; and the fruits, which include apples, berries, pears, melons, nectarines, oranges, grapes, lemons, limes and grapefruits. Fruits are rich in vitamins and minerals, as well as protein and fibre. The main vegetable sources of carbohydrates are the grains such as bread, pasta, rice and cereals; roots, tubers, bulbs, green vegetables, legumes (peas, beans and lentils), nuts and seeds; fruit concentrates and juice.
As far as fats go, the good ones are Omega 3 fatty acids found in oily fish, sesame seeds, walnuts, canola oil, sunflower oil, olive oil and margarine. Saturated fats are found in butter, margarine, spreads, cheese and ice-cream. Added sugar is any sugar added to food that isn’t naturally present in it. The American diet contains more than twice the recommended daily amount of added sugar, and this is mainly because we eat too many processed foods that use preservatives and flavour enhancers instead of real ingredients.