Diet Frameworks
Food and Nutrients
Research
100
This nutrition framework was first developed in 1992 by the United States Department of Agriculture as a simplified visual representation of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
What is the USDA Food Guide Pyramid?
100
While often known for its presence in dairy products, spinach, broccoli and tofu are also good sources of this nutrient.
What is calcium?
100
This type of study is considered the "gold standard" of scientific studies and involves one group of volunteers being assigned to an experimental variable, like a new diet, and one group of volunteers being assigned to a control group.
What is a randomized trial (or randomized controlled trial)?
200
Launched in 2011 after decades of the food pyramid, Americans can look to this new model for healthy eating, the new symbol of proper nutrition from the USDA
What is MyPlate?
200
he USDA Food Guide Pyramid shows that this food along with poultry, fish, eggs beans and nuts are all excellent sources of protein. However, this popular American food choice is often loaded with saturated fat and may provide too much iron, if eaten often.
What is red meat?
200
This type of study is the second best type of scientific study and involve tracking specific measures in large groups of people for long periods of time.
What is a cohort study?
300
This nutrition framework was developed by Harvard as a healthier alternative to the USDA Food Guide Pyramid because it is based on more recent nutrition science.
What is the Healthy Eating Pyramid?
300
According to Walter Willet this food should be classified as a starch/carbohydrate instead of a vegetable.
What is a potato?
300
In this type of study, a researcher gathers information from a group of people who have developed a particular disease and a similar group of people who are free of that disease and compares the group for differences in diet, exercise, or whatever variable he or she is interested in.
What is a case-control study?
400
This nutrition framework was created by experts at Harvard and points consumers to the healthiest choices in the major food groups, including whole grains, liquid fats (oils), excluding potatoes as a vegetable, and limiting dairy intake.
What is the Healthy Eating Plate?
400
This type of fat is considered a healthy fat because it improves cholesterol levels and may protect the heart against rhythm disturbances.
What is an unsaturated fat?
400
This is an example of a large, prospective cohort study that started in 1976 when 121,700 registered nurses between the ages of 30 and 55 returned completed questionnaires about risk factors for cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Since then participants have completed follow-up questionnaires every two years, and 116,000 younger nurses were enrolled in the study in1989.
What is the Nurses' Health Study?
500
Updated every five years and published by the USDA, these are very detailed recommendations for healthy eating determined by a panel of experts and are based on recent nutrition science. Walter Willet describes these as "a bit better" than the USDA Food Guide Pyramid, but this 95 page document is less approachable for the general public as it is written for a nutrition professional audience.
What are The Dietary Guidelines for Americans?
500
A little bot of this can be beneficial, but a lot can eventually destroy the liver, lead to various cancers, boost blood pressure, trigger strokes, progressively weaken the heart muscle, scramble the brain, and harm unborn children.
What is alcohol?
500
The process by which a scientific study is critiqued by experts and approved for publication in a scientific journal.
What is peer review?