Here’s one for the naysayers

I was excited to see the USDA’s new approach to the food pyramid today. A redesign of a plate featuring the necessary foods you need in a daily diet is a great visual aid for helping people realize exactly what they should be eating at each meal. It is the simplest, most iconic way to understand it.

Sadly, ChooseMyPlate.gov is already being met with incredible skepticism. A quick scroll on CNN’s Facebook page had some of the following comments:

Im gettin so sick of people telling how to eat and what I can and cant put in MY &%^* body

those grains have got to go. That is plain corporate crap there. Most grains spike blood sugar something ugly.

Respectfully, I don’t need the gov (or anyone else) giving me their opinions on what I should eat.

I dont need the govmnt to tell me wat to eat
Im not 5 yrs old.

But here’s the thing: it’s not about the government saying what needs to go in our bodies. It’s science.

From the cellular level, our bodies require certain nutrients in order to function properly.

Carbohydrates are always knocked by diet fads, and because of that, they’re mistakenly taken as an enemy. For starters, the right kinds of carbohydrates are high in fiber, which is important in maintaining a healthy heart. Plus, the calories found in carbs are used for energy. When you get rid of them, you won’t be burning fat, which is really what most people are hoping to get rid of. And the glucose your body makes from carbohydrates are needed for your brain, heart and muscles to function. Which, obviously, is pretty important.

Meanwhile, calories from protein are used in the maintenance and repair of your tissues and organs, so if you’re not eating enough protein, your body will begin to break down muscles to make up for what is missing. And too much protein tends to lack a lot of the vitamins and minerals the body needs to maintain a healthy blood pressure, and can make the blood more acidic for side effects like nausea, fatigue and dizziness.

Of course, low-fat diets can be every bit as evil, too. Fatty acids are an important part of the structure of our cells, and they assist the body in carrying out many of its functions—like regulating our blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Do most people know these details? Probably not. Plus, if you ask the average person, they usually believe they’re strictly following the recommended daily allowance on food. But in reality, they’re usually overloading on sweets and junk, and they’re not eating enough of the fruits and vegetables their bodies need to function properly.

That’s why programs like ChooseMyPlate are so good—you can look at a plate and actually visualize what it is you need to eat at that given moment.

There will always be naysayers. I know that. But come on—at least give our government a little more credit for taking the initiative to make it easier for us all to understand it better.