Food Pyramids Across the Globe

With many borders opening up across the globe, we want to make sure you’re fully educated before you add more stamps to that passport.  That especially goes with eating!

While the United States actually officially deleted the food pyramid in 2011, it’s still well-known and well-loved by many generations. Not only does the US no longer have a food pyramid, but most nations have entirely different health suggestions overall!

Our belief is that, no matter where you are in the world, eating whole, complete foods as often as possible is the way to go. Though we thought it would be fun to take a little tour around the globe to see what various government organizations have to say.

Let’s get started!

United States

Meet “MyPlate”... a simple graphic dividing the plate into roughly four quadrants, plus a cup of dairy, all which replaced the food pyramid.

At The Seasoned Chef, we’re not huge fans of MyPlate because it doesn’t include some essential information that would be helpful. For example, should greasy french fries count in “grains”? Ideally, no. Whenever possible, stick with whole grains that will help to fuel your body to be your best.

Though we do understand the simplicity and agree with the high level concept. It’s pretty easy to remember!

Score: 3.45/5

Japan

Jumping to our recent Olympic host-nation, Japan!

In Japan, we find a spinning top to be their preferred symbol of nutrition. Adding in exercise advice, as well as tips for snacks and sweets consumption, the Japanese cover a lot of ground with their spinning top!

There are some elements we agree with, such as that water should be included as a healthy base for every diet. Though we see some of the issues with this advice, some similar to the past US food pyramid. For example, there is not enough detail!  Also, we find it interesting that this is the only graphic on this list with grains making up the majority of a person’s suggested diet.  Overall, we probably wouldn’t suggest that your family adopts this as their own quite yet.

Score: 2.783/5

Australia

Back to the pyramids with Australia’s nutrition guidelines! Though this level of detail is very different from what we’ve seen from most food pyramids in the past.

Beyond offering examples of what should be included within each segment, Australia also offers different nutrition guidelines and images for individuals with more unique circumstances. For example, there’s a MyPlate style image for elderly citizens and a much more specific guide for teens growing through growth spurts.

Overall, not too shabby, Australia!

Score: 4.532/5

India

Looks familiar, doesn’t it? The one major difference between India's nutrition guidelines and our old US food pyramid is that fruit and vegetables take over the majority of India’s plate. To that point, we’d typically agree.

Interestingly, there are a few more detailed versions of these nutritional guidelines available, which include elements such as daily physical exercise and not smoking, which may likely be relevant to current trends in Indian culture.  Good tips either way!

Overall, good advice, but lacking some major detail.  We’d also suggest more protein for most people.

Score: 3.587/5

United Kingdom

In the UK, The Eatwell Plate is primarily used, with some notable differences from other nations. For one, fruit and vegetables are not only combined, but also take up a smaller section of the metaphorical “plate” than much of the world.  Proteins are also a smaller section, while dairy is much more prominent than we’ve seen elsewhere.

Overall, we don’t exactly love these suggestions. In fact, when compared to most of the other nations, we think you should probably scratch this one off your list all together.

Score: 2.354/5

Overall…

There are several similarities across much of the world when it comes to nutrition guidelines. Eat whole foods in their most natural form as often as possible. Limit surgery, overly processed, or overly salty foods.

No matter the nutrition guidelines you decide to follow, we at The Seasoned Chef very much agree with those key elements and you’ll see them repeated time and time again in our class recipes and throughout our cookbook.

Cheers to healthy and happy eating!