Australia Reinvents The Food Pyramid With A Heavy Focus On Vegetables And No Sugar In Sight

You can probably still conjure up the image of the old food pyramid in your mind's eye. But we now know a hearty 6 to 11 servings of bread and pasta is ridiculous, and therefore (sadly) the food pyramid model was stricken from health textbooks in America in 2011 and replaced with the much more practical (and greens-heavy) "MyPlate." But the food pyramid may be back with a vengeance, at least in the Land of Oz.

Nutrition Australia has released a new and improved food pyramid, with vegetables on the bottom and healthy fats up top. In the old days, we were allowed "fats, oils, and sweets" sparingly, but a healthy Australian diet has almost no room for such nonsense. Unlike MyPlate, as the Washington Post points out, this pyramid actually illustrates what people might see as they walk down a grocery aisle. Suggestions of what to line your pantry and fridge shelves with include avocados, broccoli, mushrooms, quinoa, beans, eggs, and the vegan-friendly protein option, tofu. The healthy fats at the top are illustrated by a bottle of olive oil.

In another version of the pyramid, the bottom of the pyramid is not taken up by fruits and vegetables, but rather photos of feet moving in a representation of exercise. Australia has one of the highest obesity rates in the world, at over 25 percent.