Australia's food pyramid has been updated. Nutrition Australia released the new pyramid in the hopes of spreading awareness on the proper recommended food. This move comes amidst growing confusion on what the body needs especially with fad diets eliminating the need or focusing too much on certain food groups.
One thing is certain with this update: junk food is out. The need for more vegetables in the diet comes as lifestyle diseases rise in frequency and intensity.
There are four levels in the new pyramid: The bottom layers or foundations of the Australian diet are plant-based foods. Vegetables, fruits, and legumes are all part of it. Noticeably, cereals and breads have been removed from this layer as this is no longer consistent with modern findings on carbohydrates.
The next layer consists of grains. Examples of grains are oats, quinoa, and wholegrain cereal. Above that layer is another tier that consists of milk, yogurt, cheese, lean meat, poultry, fish, and eggs. Nuts and seeds including soy milk and tofu are also included here.
At the very top are healthy fats. This is opposed to saturated and trans fats. Healthy fats may be found in unrefined polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats taken from plant sources. Good examples are extra virgin olive oil, and nut and seed oil.
Butter, which used to be a mainstay in Australian food pyramids, has been totally removed. Together with its elimination are sugar and margarine. This comes as a major shift as Australia's first
The webpage of Nutrition Australia comes with this warning as well: "Consuming a lot of added sugars, especially from foods like lollies, chocolate, cakes, biscuits, desserts and soft drink, can add extra kilojoules to your diet. This can lead to weight gain and increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers."
Grouping calorie needs using food type (proteins, carbohydrates, fats) led to much inconsistency. For instance, legumes have large protein content despite being plant-based. Its nutritional value cannot be classified as one or the other.
