SALT LAKE CITY — It turns out eliminating the Food Guide Pyramid doesn't do away with the mysteries the federal dietary guidelines present.
The new guidelines, released June 2, include a new graphic: a plate with sections for each of the main food groups, including a bowl for dairy. The point was to simplify the government's dietary guidelines, encouraging people to organize their food according to the fractions on the plate instead of in the shape of a pyramid.
Easier said than done.
The new guidelines seem straightforward — roughly into quarters, with more vegetables than fruit and more grains than protein. My assignment was a simple one: Follow the new guidelines for five days. The execution was more difficult than I had imagined.
A minor quibble was that the plate does not address portion sizes. For someone who grew up hearing, "Six to 11 servings of grain daily," this was a change. A quarter of my plate may be quite different than a quarter of my neighbor's plate. This wasn't a deal breaker, however; I just used a smaller plate.
The biggest challenge I encountered was filling almost a quarter of my plate with vegetarian-friendly protein. I have never naturally turned to protein-laden foods, and I found myself eating a lot of protein-heavy vegetables such as spinach and green beans. This meant roughly half of my plate was made of vegetables, but there was nothing I could do about that. On day five, I realized I had soy-protein burgers in the freezer, which solved my problem nicely.
The new approach to dietary guidelines is overall a more simple way to view food. For the average non-vegetarian American who is not overly concerned about exact numbers, the graphic is easily interpreted. Those who, like me, prefer a more exact idea of what a healthy diet demands may wish to do further research.
Stephanie Grimes (@limsteph) is a student at Brigham Young University studying history.