> Food and Nutrition > Food Guides > RDAs and DRIs (Recommended Dietary Allowances and Dietary Reference Intakes)

Udo Erasmus, author of Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill (alive books, 1993), was touring Japan in January 2003 when he saw the latest edition of Newsweek.

The cover story - “Building a Better Way to Eat" - featured an alternative to the USDA food pyramid called the “Healthy Eating Pyramid,” devised by Walter Willett and colleagues at the Harvard University School of Public Health.

Erasmus was impressed with Willett’s work, but said to himself, “Man, this is so complicated…I can do better than that!” Inspired by the article, Erasmus developed a new pyramid. Then he created four more, to account for various states of health, as well as to explain the importance of food processing and preparation.

What’s Wrong With the Old Food Pyramid?

The USDA food pyramid shares many similarities with Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating. In both, carbohydrates - in the form of breads, grain products, and cereals - are the largest food group. In Canada, other food groups follow in descending order: vegetables and fruits, milk products, and meat and alternatives. Sweets, fats, and junk foods are labelled as foods we should “use in moderation.”

Making carbohydrates the cornerstone of our diet was a mistake, says Erasmus. “What we’ve been told for the last 20 years is ‘Reduce the fats in your diet, and increase your intake of carbohydrates,’” he says. “This was wrong. We should have been told to never eat more carbohydrates than we are able to burn. After 20 years of increasing carbohydrates and lowering fat, obesity has more than doubled and childhood obesity has more than tripled.” Erasmus cautions that excess carbohydrates not only add extra pounds; they are the root of other ailments, including type II diabetes and highly unstable blood glucose levels, which can cause dizziness, mood swings, tiredness, and irritability. He asserts that low blood sugar causes many traffic accidents and is responsible for the misdiagnosis of attention-deficient problems in children.

The importance of healthy fats is also ignored in Canada’s food guide, says Erasmus. “Fats help to suppress appetite; they don’t affect your blood sugar in the same way that carbs do. That, in itself, is a major benefit. Plus, your body can use fats as fuel.”

“Atkins figured that out,” Erasmus continues, raising a caution, “but he didn’t care about the quality of fats. Fried meats like bacon can lead to all the heart and health problems associated with the increased intake of saturated fats, including increased cancer risk.”

Erasmus’s solution is a food choice pyramid that looks like this.

See Udo's Pyramids

Level One: Green, Nonstarchy Vegetables and Fruit

The base of Udo’s pyramid calls for nine daily servings of vegetables and one serving of fruit. “Green foods are the single-most important food on the planet,” says Erasmus. “They are a source of fuel, and give us all of the components of health, including phytonutrients.”
Fruit plays a much less significant role, simply because of its sugar content. Erasmus suggests we be guided by nature’s growing cycles. “If you think about fruit versus greens - there’s not a lot of fruit growing between October and June - but there are always greens available.”

Level Two: Good Fats and Proteins

After we eat our vegetables, it’s time for good fats and proteins. This can be a real hurdle for many of us, who have been taught to fear fats.

Erasmus agrees. “Twenty years ago we were told that we should eat a low-fat diet. What we should have been told is to eat fewer fats and more fats,” he says. Eating the right types of fats improves health and burns stored fat. These “good fats” are obtained primarily from seeds, nuts, and fatty fish, and many are also a good source of protein.

Good fats supply essential fatty acids, mainly in the form of omega-3s and -6s.

“Essential means we can’t make ’em, and we gotta have ’em,” Erasmus says.

Jenn Farrell is a professional writer whose work has appeared in alive, Raven's Eye, The Vancouver Courier, Prism, and subTerrain magazine.

Source: alive #258, April 2004