What Went Wrong: The Food Pyramid

In a world where everyone is looking for the perfect diet - trying to find the balance between nutrition and practicality, it's important to make sure we don't lose sight of another key aspect: individuality. Accepting that the same diet plan will not work for everyone. Today I wanted to take a step back in time and analyze the most famous attempt at standardizing nutrition: its strengths, its shortcomings and most importantly what we can learn from it. Let's break down what went wrong with The Food Pyramid

Introduction - 0:00
History of the Food Pyramid - 1:15
Obesity Statistics - 4:18
What Went Right - 5:30
What Went Wrong: Nutrient Clarity - 7:47
What Went Wrong: Servings - 8:21
What Went Wrong: Protein - 8:57
What Went Wrong: Fat - 9:44
What Went Wrong: Micronutrients - 12:01
What Went Wrong: Carbohydrates - 12:30
Outro - 14:09

#nutrition #foodpyramid #myplate #diet #nutrients #healthyeating

[VladLogimane]

Ever considered a video on the nutritional effects of food preservation methods like freezing, drying, pickling, salting and such?

[jhamisoncarvalho]

It's like having a personal nutritionist. Man I'm so grateful that my old man scared the bejesus outta me for failing English language at 10. Now I can watch and understand great content like this. Been +2 years that your videos are helping me through my brain disorders and overall body health. Thank you so much Talon.

[bradygoldblatt]

Maybe you should make a video talking about the shortcomings of our “nutrition facts” labels, and/or the fda daily intake recommendations. I’m always confused when a multivitamin or individual supplement has 200-300% of the dri, and it’s hard to tell when things would turn from helpful to harmful.

[elemair]

I've been working in the food industry all my life, I'm in a high position, and I can assure you the corruption is 100% real.

[because-strudels]

This explains a lot of the survival vids I've seen. I noticed they prioritize proteins fats (they celebrate whenever they can find some fat) for survival, if they couldn't get those, they had trouble functioning and even thinking.

[noahleveille]

Thank you Talon you have motivated me to eat better, previously smoked half a pack a day, ate like crap, and drank two energy drinks a day.

Now I cut both the energy drinks and smoking in half, and eat more greens and less candy. Only been about a month, but I already feel better due to my body not being abused so harshly everyday.

Gonna keep working it day and day, see how much more I can improve. Thank you!

[moblinmajorgeneral]

The USDA is not a health organization. It is a regulatory body centered around agriculture. The pyramid was more about what farmers in the US should produce so that it would be sold and consumed. Part of the reason why grains were the center of the pyramid rather than meat.

[TitanBait]

I hope some day you do a snacks tier list! Ingredients are great but people also consume a wide variety of snacks that contribute a lot to our societal diet. There are often more than 2 isles of just snack type food in grocery stores so I think it is an important corner to cover. I would think a lot of stuff could be generalized like gummy worms or chips, but you could talk about stuff you haven't mentioned before like dried fruit, popcorn, chocolate, fruit cups, etc. things that wouldn't need a tier list alone but all together could be very interesting to explore!

This was a really great and informative video! I have really started to watch you consistently and it's helped me make better choices or validate the research I have done myself. Your videos are more than just content!

[michaelkeller]

These are the types of videos that are helping me improve my life. Thank you for all you do

[bryanmasuda]

talon thank you for always posting quality videos your one of my favorite creators on this platform!

[lovecheeseordie]

Starting a cooking series of great every day meals that follow your best nutritional advice would be great! We know what we need to do but a lot of people don’t know how to do it. A “recipes in a week” might help out.

[bobnewkirk]

"lets go over what went right...don't worry this will be quick" deepest cut of the video.
Honestly the food pyramid is a clear example how Big Business and their lobbyists are influencing public policy. the fact alone that Dairy is still a required section despite a growing portion of the population being lactose intolerant should be the first red flag. Beyond that the '90 pyramid was built based on the prior rationing guidelines and so it was suggested to eat the lowest cost food to stay alive, which is why we have the over-abundance of carbs in the diet.

that all being said I've seen some "Mediterranean" diet Pyramids floating around that do a better job, but the messaging is super mixed and the number of caveats make it hard to read without a magnifying glass; There really isn't a perfect model as nutrition isn't perfectly understood yet. the one benefit that these diagrams have is that they, at very least, encourage the consumption of something other than meat and potatoes which was, and sadly still is, the diet of the audience that first saw them. Like you closed with they are "generally making progress, just very slowly"; which may as well be the slogan for the Fed at large.

[Probably_Laurence]

I LOVE this new format, definitely would love to see more of this!!

[markadams]

I think the key point is that they have been fighting a losing battle from the start, but I think without such an oversimplified visual device, we would be eating far worse than we already are. I agree that you can't do an accurate picture of dietary needs in one simple drawing, but I also feel that no simple drawing at all would be worse, as people wouldn't even try for at least the most basic dietary requirements. I also think a lot of factors have contributed to our bad diets over the years. Like a lot of so called advertised as "healthy" processed foods becoming more prominent on the market while still being the same old processed garbage, so people think they can eat more of it. Also with the technology of more and more convivence comes less and less exercise. Why walk to a grocery store when you can have the food delivered directly to your door. I know food delivered directly to the home goes way back, but not to the extent that is done today. I know this sounds like a minor thing, but these minor little things add up.

[CedricAda]

Definitely keen on a BMI what went wrong video

[SebiStr]

Trying to think of super easy universal guidelines right now on the spot... Kinda hard but here goes: (in no particular order, these are points that I try to follow and that I encourage my family and friends to follow)
-) as little (industrial) processing as (reasonably) possible
-) variety is key (make meals as colorful and varied in texture as possible)
-) no extremes (as everywhere else in life...) (meaning no extremely salty/sweet/fatty foods)
-) drink mostly water (except if carb and/or electrolyte intake is necessary)
-) supplementation is a crutch (but might be necessary e.g.: Omega 3s and Vit. D)
-) stimulants are not your friends (caffein, nicotine, alcohol etc.) (should be avoided, some more than others)

(optional and not applicable for everyone)
-) have fun with food, experiment with new flavors or combinations, take the time to be creative (try new recipes you find online or just improvise)
-) grow your own herbs/veggies/fruits (depending on your situation ofc.) (having fresh herbs available is a game changer)
-) prepare meals in advance (to remove impulse control from the equation entirely and for convinience)

That took quite a while and isn't easily visually represented... No wonder the food pyramid isn't any better xD

[ProfessionalBirdWatcher]

Another banger as always, thanks Talon!

[dishcleaner]

Nice. You should do a video on how to make restrictive diets like vegetarian and vegan align with what you think is best for the body. As a vegan, I would recommend whatever you put out to my friends.

[curlyfreis]

What went wrong ? Companies: "Look at all the money we gave you for the results we want."

[Gepser]

What I learned here is that if you want the best for you, don't trust the government. Educate yourself.