The Food Guide Pyramid emphasizes foods from the five major food groups shown in the three lower sections of the Pyramid. Each of these food groups provides some, but not all of the nutrients you need. Foods in one groups can’t replace those in another. No one food group is more important than another – for good health, you need them all.

The small tip of the Pyramid shows fats, oils, and sweets.
These are foods such as salad dressings and oils, cream, butter, margarine, sugars, soft drinks, candies, and sweet desserts, These foods provide calories and little else nutritionally. Most people should use them sparingly.

The Second Level of the Food Guide Pyramid are two groups of foods that come mostly from animals: milk, yogurt, and cheese; and meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs, and nuts. These foods are important for protein, calcium, iron, and zinc.

The Third Level includes foods that come from plants – vegetables and fruits. Most people need to eat more of these foods for the vitamins, minerals, and fiber they supply.

At the Base of the Food Guide Pyramid are breads, cereals, rice, and pasta – all foods from grains. You need the most servings of these foods each day.

See Also:

• Facts about Cholesterol
• Facts about Sugars
• Facts about Salt and Sodium

The complete USDA Food Guide Pyramid brochure is  available for download from this site. The brochure is available in convenient Portable Document Format (PDF).  To download the brochure, click on image at left.

To download and read the complete brochure,FREE Adobe Acrobat Reader software is required.To download and install Adobe Acrobat Reader, visit the Acrobat Web Site at  http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html .  

Source: United States Department of Agriculture, Home & Garden Bulletin #52