The Italian food pyramid is something akin to the traditional food pyramid that we know here in the US. The traditional food pyramid represents in a graphical way the types of foods that we should be eating in order to maintain full nutrition in our diets. The FDA food pyramid was introduced in the early 90s in order to try and combat the growing incidence of heart disease and other bad diet related issues. There are many other types of food pyramid including the Canada food guide pyramid, the daily food pyramid, the asian food pyramid, the interactive food pyramid, and the harvard food pyramid.
The Italian food pyramid offers some of the best foods in the world in relation to health and disease prevention. It is widely recognized that chronic disease rates are among the lowest in the world in the Mediterranean countries. This is widely considered to be partly because of the highly nutritious Mediterranean diet. The Mediterranean food pyramid is drawing more attention to the better aspects of the Mediterranean diet. For instance all food plants are going to be gathered into the one section. This means the section that includes fruits and vegetables would also include grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, olives, and of course olive oil which was previously put at the top of the pyramid into the foods where you are not supposed to eat much of.
The Italian food pyramid also has a good section on herbs and spices. This is not only for health reasons but also that you can choose to substitute herbs and spices instead of salt. Another section of the Italian food pyramid that is highlighted is for eating fish, including shellfish, at least twice a week.
So what is it that contributes to the healthy nature of the Italian food pyramid, otherwise known as the Mediterranean food pyramid? One of the contributing factors is that there is a great emphasis on eating whole foods. Particularly there is a huge emphasis on plant foods. There is also not much emphasis placed on processed foods, or I should say that there is an emphasis placed on not eating processed foods in the Italian food pyramid. Olive oil is also one of the foods that you are encouraged to eat because it is effectively replacing other fats which can be harmful. In other words if you are eating the Italian cuisine recommended by the Italian food pyramid, or the Mediterranean food pyramid and the Mediterranean diet, you are going to be on your way to becoming a lot more healthier.