Is the amount of carbohydrates recommended by the current USDA Food Guide Pyramid too high?
It seems like more and more evidence is showing that many carbs contribute to obesity and other health problems. Answer from Terese Scollard, R.D., L.D., M.B.A., Regional ClinicalNutrition Manager: Your question touches on a couple of interesting points. First, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is in the midst of reassessing the pyramid, which was originally released in 1992. In September and October 2003, the USDA solicited public comment on proposed revisions to its recommendations”daily food intake patterns,” in the USDA’s words. The USDA describes its proposed changes as evolutionary and based on updated nutritional standards, including new scientific guidelines for vitamins, minerals and macronutrients. Want to see for yourself? On theUSDA’s Web site,you can click hyperlinks to tables that give the details. One change that involves carbohydrates is a proposal to create two categories for grains: whole grains and other grains. Also, recommendations for servings are
