Alejandro Ribeiro | Personal / Good Nutrition

Have you ever wondered why your science teacher has a colorful pyramid poster at the front of the class? That poster has a name. It’s called the MyPyramid, and it is used to tell you all the essential nutrients and how much you need of them per day. These nutrients are very important; they help you grow in all sorts of ways and become stronger. There are limits to how much you eat, though, and this is called moderation. You should eat good foods that are high in nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, protein, and good carbohydrates called starches, but low in fats and sugars. After this, I hope you will change your bad eating habits and begin practicing some new ones.

Nutrition is the process of getting the right amount of nutrients in order to stay healthy and to grow properly. That means you must get all six nutrients and use moderation as to not eat too much of fat and sugar or too little of vitamins, minerals, protein, and carbohydrates. Also, you want to get the good side of nutrition by being balanced. Good nutrition is important because it will help you grow, stay healthy, and help your body stay strong. You should also get good nutrition so you do not develop bad eating habits and gain excess weight or health problems; this is why you must cut low on fats, cholesterol, and oils.

All the nutrients, as I have mentioned before are carbohydrates, fats, minerals, proteins, vitamins, and water. Carbohydrates are our prime source of energy; you can find these in starches, breads, grains, beans, potatoes, sugars, and fruits. Proteins are what help us grow and repair injuries, these are found in meat, beans, and peanut butter. Vitamins and minerals do many things, and a few are good eyesight (Vitamin A), healing (Vitamin C), stronger bones (Calcium), and iron helps with blood cells and the immune system, they are found in raw fruits and vegetables, walnuts, milk, and green, leafy vegetables. Water helps with digestion and weight balancing, water is found from the faucet, fruits, and pretty much every food or drink you eat. Fiber also helps with digestion and weight control, but it is still not considered a nutrient. Fat is essential and you cannot live without it, and you should get your fats from fish and oils such as cod-liver oil instead of peanut butter and hamburgers.

Now I will tell you about the My Pyramid. The My Pyramid helps us to be healthy by showing you what to eat each day and how much to eat of a certain nutrient or food. It also reminds us to exercise at least 60 minutes, or 1hour, per day. Before I was taught about the My Pyramid, I only knew that it tells you what to eat each day. Therefore when I entered fifth grade, I learned that it tells you how to keep in moderation and to exercise every day. You know how the My Pyramid has those colorful strips? Well, these are what the colors represent:

Orange: Grains. “Make half your grains whole.”
Green: Vegetables. “Vary your veggies.”
Red: Fruits. “Focus on fruits.”
Yellow: Fats and oils. “Know your limits.”
Blue: Milk and Dairy. “Get your Calcium rich foods.”
Purple: Meat and Beans. “Go lean with protein.”
The white strips and the stairs are for exercise, but they are not a nutrient.

Nutrition labels are important because they tell you what nutrients, calories, calories from fat, cholesterol, fiber, and sodium in each serving size. They do this by using % daily values (% DV) or showing you the grams or milligrams of each ingredient. All the things listed on a nutrition label are as the following in order from top to bottom:

Serving size, servings per container, calories, calories from fat, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, fiber, sugars, protein, vitamins A and C, iron, calcium, and finally, it will list all the other vitamins and minerals it has. To find out its quality as being nutritious, use this code: 5% or lower= low, 25% or higher= high, and lastly, calories from fat must be at most 1/3 of the calories content.

If you’re still out there looking for a perfect diet in one of your magazines, I have news for you. There is no perfect diet!!! There is no miracle diet because you need to eat all your nutrients. If you deprive yourself of any needed foods, you will become weak and sick. If I get a cut, I will need vitamin C and iron. You may become thin from not eating any fats, but you can also die. Besides, we’re all different, so not all diets work the same for us.

After studying nutrition, I changed my diet by exercising more and eating fruits as a snack. I changed my thinking greatly when I learned what could happen when you do not have a balanced diet at the Lankenau hospital. I also changed by being more grateful when my mom puts a salad (which I am not very fond of) on the table.

Now you have learned why there is no perfect diet. I told you all about the My Pyramid. You have learned many reasons why to eat healthy. I let in on some parts of my diet. Now it is up to you to make the healthy decision.