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 o offer a healthful alternative to the
1992 U.S. Food Guide Pyramid, which lumps some animal and plant foods together
in a single group, Cornell University and Harvard University researchers
have teamed up with other experts to assist the non-profit foundation Oldways
Preservation & Exchange Trust in unveiling an official Vegetarian Diet
Pyramid.
 The food recommendation pyramid,
released at the three-day International Conference on Vegetarian Diets held
in Austin, Texas in November, is intended to publicize the well-balanced
ovo-lacto vegetarian diet of healthy vegetarian people of many cultures,
which research has increasingly shown to be linked to much lower rates of
certain cancers, heart disease, obesity and, in some cases, osteoporosis
and other chronic, degenerative diseases found in the United States.
The Vegetarian Diet Pyramid emphasizes
a wide base of foods to be eaten at every meal, including fruits and vegetables,
whole grains (oats, wheat, whole grain bread, barley, couscous, noodles,
pasta, corn) and legumes (soy, beans, peanuts and other legumes). The middle
band, to be eaten from daily, includes nuts and seeds, egg whites, dairy
and soy cheese, milk (almond, dairy, rice and soy) and plant oils. The top
tip of the pyramid are optional foods foods to be eaten occasionally or
in small quantities and includes eggs and sweets.
Daily physical exercise and plenty
of water are stressed. A moderate intake of wine, beer and other alcohol
is considered optional because of positive heart-health benefits for individuals
who are not at risk.
The Vegetarian Diet Pyramid was developed
by nutrition scientists and medical specialists from the Cornell-China-Oxford
Project on Nutrition, Health and Environment, which is based at Cornell;
the Harvard School of Public Health; and the Oldways Preservation &
Exchange Trust, a non-profit food-issues educational organization in Cambridge,
Mass., whose mission is to preserve traditions and foster cultural exchanges
in the fields of food, cooking and agriculture.
"This pyramid reflects the growing
body of research that suggests that Americans will not reduce their rate
of cancers, cardiovascular disease and other chronic, degenerative diseases
until they shift their diets away from animal-based foods to plant-based
foods," said T. Colin Campbell, Cornell professor of nutritional biochemistry,
one of the scientists who helped develop and present the pyramid at the
conference and the director of the Cornell-China-Oxford Project, a massive
survey of more than 10,000 families in mainland China and Taiwan designed
to study diet, lifestyle and disease across the far reaches of China.
By investigating simultaneously more
diseases and more dietary characteristics than any other study to date,
the project has generated the most comprehensive database in the world on
the multiple causes of disease. Much of the research behind the pyramid
is based on the China project's research findings.
"Merely eating some low-fat
foods or complying with current U.S. dietary recommendations is unlikely
to prevent much disease," Campbell said. "Evidence suggests that
eating even small amounts of animal-based foods is linked, at least for
many individuals, to significantly higher rates of cancers and cardiovascular
diseases typically found in the United States."
Increasingly, more Americans are
turning to vegetarian diets. Currently, an estimated 14 million Americans
consider themselves vegetarians, compared with 9 million just a few years
ago, reported Oldways President K. Dun Gifford. And every year, about 1
million people adopt a vegetarian diet.
"The new pyramid helps mark
the entry of vegetarian eating into the American mainstream," he said.
Gifford and Campbell point out that
the U.S. Food Guide Pyramid is misleading in that it no longer reflects
the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans (1995) issued by the U.S.
government, which endorses the healthfulness of vegetarian eating. Yet,
the Food Guide Pyramid still appears on billions of food packages.
Well-planned vegetarian diets are
increasingly endorsed by doctors, researchers and national public and private
groups, including the National Cancer Institute, American Heart Association,
U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
and, most recently, the American Dietetic Association.
The Vegetarian Pyramid is the fourth
pyramid developed in a series of conferences, sponsored by Oldways and the
Harvard School of Public Health, that consider diverse dietary traditions
around the world. Oldways' other pyramids focus on traditional diets found
in specific geographic regions, including the Mediterranean, Latin America
and Asia.  |
cornell.edu Compuserve: Bill Steele, 72650,565 http://www.news .cornell.edu