Wonder Foods from Each Food Category
How about tweaking the food pyramid idea to give a diet that is nutrient dense and also energy saving. Put fruit and vegetables at the bottom of the pyramid to encourage you to eat a lot more of these rich-nutrient foods than any other food category.
The tweaked order is as follows:
1. Vegetables and Fruit – eat mostly from this section
2. Protein and Carbohydrates – eat a moderate amount from this section
3. Fats – this category is still important for essential nutrients but eat only a minimal amount from this section.
4. Treats and pleasure foods- eat only a small amount and simply to give you pleasure. Chose wisely as some treat foods are better than others.
Wonder food to include are:
Section 1
- Asparagus
- Apricots (inc dried)
- Cabbage Family
- Avocadoes
- Capsicum
- Chilli peppers Berries
- Dark-green leafy vegetables
- Citrus Family
- Globe artichokes
- Guava
- Mushrooms
- Kiwi fruit
- Onion Family
- Mango
- Peas
- Papaya
- Tomatoes
- Passionfruit
- Persimmon
- Pomegranate
- Prunes
- Rockmelon
Section 2
- Chicken & Turkey
- Barley
- Eggs
- Beans and lentils
- Fish
- Buckwheat
- Game meats
- Bulgar
- Lean pork
- Corn
- Lean red meat
- Grain breads
- Liver
- Natural muesli
- Low-fat milk and yoghurt
- Oats
- Seafood (not fish roe, prawns and squid)
- Pumpernickel bread
- Quinoa
- Wholemeal pasta
Section 3
- Almonds
- Pecans
- Avocado
- Pine nuts
- Brazil Nuts
- Pistachios
- Cashews
- Sesame seeds & Tahina
- Flaxseeds (inc oil)
- Sunflower seeds
- Hazelnuts
- Walnuts
- Nut spreads and butters
- Olives (inc oil)
- Oily fish
- Seafood
Eat the following foods only in small amounts and rarely:
- floury potatoes,
- tinned fruit in syrup,
- dried cranberries,
- bagels, crumpets, pikelets, English muffins,
- instant porridge oats, polenta, processed breakfast cereals, puffed grains,
- rice crackers, crispbreads, crackers,
- white bread, white rice, rice noodles
- sausages, bacon, prosciutto, salami,cured meats
- chicken (that is not breast meat),duck, goose, fatty red meat,
- full-fat milk, full-fat cheese, flavoured yoghurt, processed cheese,
- butter, margarines, canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, refined oils,
- roasted salted nuts, peanuts
Treat Foods that are not the best choices include sweets and processed foods.
