The Pocket Idiot's Guide to the New Food Pyramids [Paperback]

Elizabeth M. Ward M.S. R.D. (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 3, 2006 | Series: The Pocket Idiot's Guide

What’s new about the new food pyramids?

The release of the USDA’s new food pyramids has given rise to thousands of questions. What’s “new” about it? How does it work? What nutritional information is relevant? Add to the questions and controversies the fact that the only source for information on the pyramids is the USDA website, which is difficult to use and unavailable to the millions of Americans without computer access. This authoritative, easy-to-follow guide is the first to explain the new findings clearly, including each of the pyramids and how to choose one that best suits particular health needs.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Elizabeth M. Ward, M.S, R.D., is a freelance writer and nutrition consultant in the Boston area. She is the author or co-author of Healthy Foods, Healthy Kids; Pregnancy Nutrition: Good Health for You and Your Baby, and the forthcoming The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Feeding Your Baby and Toddler. Ward writes for several publications, including Prevention, Men’s Fitness, Fit Pregnancy, American Baby, Boston Globe, Parents, and Parenting.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Alpha (January 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592574920
• ISBN-13: 978-1592574926
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,060,983 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am a mother, author, and registered dietitian. My passion is nutrition, especially when it comes to helping women (and men!) prepare to have the healthiest babies well before they conceive, and to coaching moms about how to feed their growing families while nurturing themselves, too. As a mother, I know that most of us act as the "gate keepers," of the household (my apologies to the dads out there who do the same), deciding what foods to buy and to prepare. Our job is one of the most important of all because we're setting the stage for our child's health, in the short-term and the long run. Like most working moms, I'm busy, and I am always looking for great tips and simple solutions for feeding my family the most nutritious foods, and that's the stuff of all of my books, including my latest, Expect the Best, Your Guide to Healthy Eating Before, During, and After Pregnancy. If you're looking for tasty and delicious recipes, Expect the Best has 50 of them that the entire family will love. And, check out my blog at dietchallenge.usatoday.com for a new family-friendly recipe every week.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Pocket Idiot's Guide to the New Food Guide Pyramids March 16, 2006

By Bonnie Taub-Dix

Format:Paperback

Book Review:

The Pocket Idiot's Guide to the New Food Pyramids

By Elizabeth M. Ward, MS,RD

Alpha, 2005

$9.95

The long awaited food pyramid was released earlier this year along with a lot of sage advice, and for some, a lot of questions. Although the new icon, appearing everywhere from T-shirts to table tops, seems simple, this structure has many layers which are peeled away and clarified in The Pocket Idiot's Guide to the New Food Pyramids.

The book starts out by explaining the solid foundation upon which MyPyramid was built and the differences between the old and new versions. "The Least you Need to Know" section appears at the end of each chapter providing a succinct summary of its previous pages. Although the text is easy to comprehend, this summary helps to provide sound bites, so to speak, for the reader, reiterating essential points.

Laced through the chapters are sidebars delineated as: Pyramid Speak - definitions of important terms; Fun FAQs - answers to frequently asked questions about eating and exercise; Pitfalls - warnings about what might derail your efforts to eat better ad exercise more; and Power Point - tips and tidbits to make healthy eating easier. These highlighted areas could lead the reader to do further research on a related topic or provide practical tips and information to add flavor to the subject matter.

Liz Ward's voice is heard throughout the text, guiding readers to make MyPyramid their own. Although many health professionals may `already know' what the pyramid represents, it's helpful to have this guide as a resource, particularly with reference to the sample menus in varying calorie levels. The charts that specifically describe the "amount that counts as 1 cup" of fruits and vegetables could help answer some of the questions our patients are asking. A glossary and resource lists are also provided within.

A particularly important feature of this book is that it's perfect for those who do not have internet access. The only navigation required is the turning of these informative pages! This book is due to be released on January 1, 2006 and can be pre-ordered on Amazon.com.

Reviewed by Bonnie Taub-Dix, MA,RD,CDN, Director of BTD Nutrition Consultants, New York and Spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a book that helps us understand the new pyramid guidelines! March 10, 2006

By Kathleen M. Zelman

Format:Paperback

The 'Pocket Idiot's Guide to the New Food Pyramids' by Elizabeth Ward is a life saver to help consumers understand the latest advice from the government. Her insightful tips, advice and guidance are easy to understand, practical and fun. She turns the dietary guidelines into workable solutions that we can easily incorporate into our every day lives. Eating right and getting regular exercise can be really difficult but this guide makes it so simple and easy to follow Uncle Sam's advice.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Some tension of purpose, but great information April 11, 2006

By H. Grove TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

The old food pyramid might not make a whole lot of sense given recent advances in nutritional understanding, but at least it was self-contained. You could glance over it and figure it out, no problem; not so with the new one. That's where "The Pocket Idiot's Guide to the New Food Pyramids," by Elizabeth M. Ward, M.S., R.D., is meant to come in. It's a relatively small, non-threatening guide to deciphering that new picture. The idea that we should need an entire book to explain it sort of goes against the whole concept of creating a simple image that conveys a basic idea of nutrition, but on the other hand, it's probably unrealistic to expect such a thing to be possible in the first place. These days it takes a book to explain what we know about nutrition and the human body.

There's a surprising amount of clear, simple detail in this book on calorie-counting, food groups, serving sizes, and so on. It explains how to customize the pyramid plan to your age, gender, activity level, and weight needs, and it also explains how you can get the most out of your food nutritionally.

Overall I think this is a very handy book. I'm a little wary of calorie-counting as a means to weight loss. I also think there was some tension between the desire to keep the book limited to a simple explanation of the food pyramid vs. providing a detailed breakdown of nutritional needs that might have erred on the limited side. However, the book provides the lowdown on nutrition and how it relates to the wide array of foods out there in a largely detailed, easy-to-understand manner, and that certainly makes it worth reading.