Food Groups

The new show "Food Revolution" is one of my favorites. Jamie Oliver is trying to change the way Americans eat by teaching them about real food. As he is treading up stream, he's discovered that Americans still believe that the food pyramid is a correct guideline for a balanced diet. Ugh, what a total disaster!

Several years ago, when I first read "The Schwarzbien Principle" (link to the website on the right of this page), I was taken aback by the food square she presented in the book because it went against everything I had been taught. However, as I shifting my thinking about balanced eating, I changed the way I ate and my metabolism changed as well.

"How many food groups are there?" you ask. Four. That's right, there are only four food groups you need to incoorporate into your daily meals and snacks in order to be truly healthy. The food pyramid's imbalanced representation of carbohydrates has made Americans fat. Here are the four groups:

1.) Protien--Sources include animal, dairy, nuts, beans, and legumes.
2.) Carbohydrates--Healthy sources include whole grains (spelt, amaranth, kamut, brown rice, sprouted wheat, etc.), starchy vegetables (artichokes, some squash, potatoes, cooked carrots, beets, corn, etc.), fruit, and beans/legums.
3.) Leafy green vegetables--Sources include non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, kale, chard, lettuce, etc.
4.) Fat--Healthy sources include olive oil, avocado, dairy, nuts, etc.

If you make sure that all of these food groups are present on your plate, you will feel more balanced and healthy. For an A blood type, a meal may be 1/2 cup of beans, 1/4 of an avocado and a bunch of vegetables all wraped up in a brown rice tortillia. Yummy!