Controlling What You Eat

Watch that plate, is it to full?

Among the biggest criticisms of the old pyramid was that while it may have suggested what to eat, it never really told us how much.

We can't get into too much trouble in categories like fruits and vegetables, where many Americans ran amok was in the section labeled "grains."

People just didn't know what a whole grain was, so they ended up eating a ton of white bread, white rice, and pasta, all the time thinking they were doing the right thing.


The New Pyramid guidelines clearly spell out that of the 8 ounces of grains needed every day, at least half should be whole grains, foods like oatmeal, whole-grain bread, brown rice, and whole-grain cereals.

Nutritionist Samantha Heller, MS, RD, a senior clinical nutritionist at NYU Medical Center in New York.