Another pyramid helps you build the healthy-eating habit

Eat your vegetables. Cut back on snacks. Nag, nag, nag. Constantly being reminded to choose healthy foods takes the fun out of eating. Sometimes it even makes you do just the opposite: Eat junk.

Now, there's a fun, nag-free reminder to eat healthy: The Healing Foods Pyramid.

Created by nutrition experts at the University of Michigan, the pyramid is a fun, easy way to learn how to eat and what to eat. Just visit www.med.umich.edu/umim and print it out. Put it in your backpack. Then pull it out at school, at home or at the grocery store. Choose a food and eat a lot or a little of it, depending on where it appears on the pyramid.

(The University of Michigan Healing Foods Pyramid is not to be confused with the new Food Guide Pyramid, which also was unveiled this spring. Created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food Guide Pyramid, at www.mypyramid.gov, also is worth checking out.)

"The USDA pyramid has stripes going from top to bottom and they're colors," said Dr. Monica Myklebust, a University of Michigan family doctor and nutrition expert.

"The Healing Foods Pyramid has stripes going from the left to right and they're colors, too. There are also pictures of all sorts of foods. So if you look at the (pyramid) for a little while and you go away from it, you will remember what foods are on the bottom that you should eat the most of. And you will remember that eggs and dairy are kind of in the middle, so maybe you eat a little bit less of that.

"And lean meat and chocolate are closer to the top, so you eat even less of those foods. And at the very base of the (pyramid) is water. And we know that our bodies are more than 50 percent water, so water is very important and essential to our life."

There are a few surprises. For example, the grains category - the third stripe from the bottom - includes corn, squash and sweet potatoes, which are vegetables.

"That's because those vegetables act like grains in the body," Myklebust said.

They increase your blood sugar more quickly than other vegetables, making them energy boosters, she said. "But they also contain more calories and sugar generally, so the number of servings of those vegetables is a little bit less than all the green or leafy vegetables."

Pretty easy, isn't it?

Try to choose whole foods: a tomato instead of tomato juice, an orange instead of orange juice.

"Nature made this fruit in a great little package to be eaten that way," Myklebust said of oranges. "It's really kind of funny that we break it down into juice and put it in a bottle and sell it."

Juice has a lot less pulp, which is a good source of fiber. And it quickly loses its natural vitamin C, which is why juice companies add synthetic vitamin C. Go figure.

It's the same with grains.

"The wheat you see growing in a field is whole," Myklebust said. "They take the kernel of wheat that has three parts and they process it so that it only has one part left. The two parts they throw away have the most vitamins and minerals."

White bread, pasta and rice are processed. You can still eat them, but choose whole-grain bread, whole-wheat pasta and brown rice more than half the time, she said.

Healthy snacks can include tortilla chips and even potato chips. "They're adding things like seeds now to some snacks to bulk them up, and make them higher in fiber," Myklebust said.

Read labels. Choose chips made with corn oil and at least 3 grams of fiber per serving. Steer clear of snacks made with partially hydrogenated oil and less fiber.

The Healing Foods Pyramid derives its name from its emphasis on the healing properties of the food it includes, such as fresh garlic, which can help fight colds, sore throats and ear infections.

"I like to go back to the old statement, `Food is medicine,'" said Myklebust, who studied under the famous nutritionist Dr. Andrew Weil.

"Foods have healing properties and we've included those foods in our pyramid."

There's even a little blank space at the very top for your favorite treat - chocolate chip cookies or strawberry ice cream, for example.

Treats heal, too, simply by making you feel good, Myklebust said.

Choose one a day. One scoop, not two, please.

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DR. MYKLEBUST'S EATING TIPS

- Eat two to four servings of fruit and five or more servings of vegetables a day. One serving is a half-cup.

- At meals, half your plate should be filled with fruits and vegetables. A quarter should be filled with protein, including meat, fish, chicken, nuts, beans, eggs, cheese and yogurt. And a quarter should be filled with whole grains, such as whole-wheat pasta or brown rice.

- Help your parents shop for food, especially produce. Ask if you can choose one new whole food a week, such as an avocado.

- Learn how to read food labels.

- Choose one of every color of fruits and vegetables: White, yellow, orange, red, green and purple. "Every color represents different nutrients," Myklebust said.

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(c) 2005, Detroit Free Press. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service.