"The New Food Pyramid (MyPyramid.gov) Moves in the Right Direction"

In April, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a new Food Guidance System, MyPyramid. A key difference between the old food pyramid guidelines and the new MyPyramid is the focus on physical activity. For the first time ever, the food pyramid emphasizes both physical activity and calorie control. MyPyramid also emphasizes “greater consumption of fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products and whole grains”, according to the American Dietetics Association.

I support and agree with these new food pyramid guidelines. I believe they are extremely positive and continue to move in the right direction.I especially like the focus on potassium and the importance of meeting potassium recommendations as another way to help Americans manage their blood pressure and prevent hypertension and cardiovascular disease. To me that means the baked potato is back in the spotlight—potatoes are high in potassium (although, I would still recommend passing on the sour cream and butter). The new food pyramid also suggests increasing our green vegetables, orange vegetables, legumes, fruits, whole grains and low-fat milk, and decreasing refined grains, total fats (especially cholesterol, saturated fat and trans fats) and added sugars.

Although the changes are positive, I would like to see two additional guidelines added, which will help address the obesity epidemic in the US. One, the pyramid should put more emphasis on the importance of the fourth nutrient water (click here to see Murphy’s Mantra on nutrition). If two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, then there is a good chance more than two thirds of Americans are also dehydrated. Most people do not know that they need to consume in ounces, equivalent of half their body weight in pounds on a daily bases. So, for example a 140 pound person should consume 70 ounces of water a day. This guideline does NOT including the additional water needed for exercise. If your nutrition contains a lot of fruits and vegetables as the guidelines suggest, then you are more likely to be getting the needed hydration. However, if your nutrition is high in protein and fat and you are not drinking the recommended amount of water, then you are likely dehydrated since your body requires more water to digest protein.

Dehydration is known to have negative effects on your body. The efficiency of muscle contraction requires proper hydration. Therefore, the right amount of water is needed for exercise. Not even an athlete who is in good physical condition will feel like exercising if she is dehydrated. An athlete who is dehydrated by a mere 2% can expect her pace to slow down by as much as 20 seconds a mile in a 5K race. Dehydration also increases the risk for injury. Drinking more water will help you loose weight in more ways than one. However, drinking too much water can have adverse effects too.

The second thing I would like to see added is a recommendation showing the specific physical fitness requirements, measured in METs (metabolic equivalents or expenditure). (Click here to see Murphy’s Mantra explaining METs). This change would help the general public make the relationship between fitness and fatness. A common measure used to determine a person’s health is Body Mass Index (BMI). BMI alone indicates a person’s body composition and is not a comprehensive indicator of that person’s overall health status. A better indicator is the Maximal Cardio Capacity indicating ones fitness level and measured in METs or VO2 max.

A person should know what level of fitness he is in, so he can know the amount of exercise he needs to reach his goals, whether that is running faster, losing weight or simply preventing disease. The CDC recommends 30 minutes each day for adults and one hour each day for children at a moderate physical intensity to lower our risk for disease. “Moderate Physical Activity” is defined as any activity that burns 3.5 to 7 calories each minute (kcal/min) or the equivalent of 3 to 6 metabolic equivalents (METs) that result in achieving 60 to 75 percent of maximum heart rate (MHR). Note, an estimate of a person’s maximum heart rate can be obtained by subtracting the person’s age from 220.

New recommendations for physical activity suggest increasing moderate exercise from 30 minutes to 1 hour daily. These new recommendations bring the weekly accumulated activity to 21 – 42 MET hours. Not everyone starts at the same level of fitness; not everyone needs the same amount of exercise. Knowing your fitness level will help determine how much exercise is needed to meet the minimum requirements and also how much exercise is needed to achieve your goal of fitness improvement?

More information on the new food pyramid, please go to www.MyPyramid.gov.

Happy running,

Coach Murphy

MBS Fitness provides personalized training programs built on your specific fitness level, so that you optimize your training time and effort. We offer training programs in-person and online for your convenience. For more information on our programs, click here or email info@mbsfitness.com.