The food guide pyramid, informally known as the food pyramid, and formally titled the Improved American Food Guide Pyramid is a historical nutrition guide published in 1992 by the USDA to replace the earlier food groups classification system. The food guide pyramid suggested optimal nutrition guidelines for each food category, per day, using a mnemonic graphic of a pyramid with horizontal dividing lines, to represent suggested percentages of the daily diet for each food group. The food guide pyramid was superseded by the current USDA nutrition advisory program titled "MyPyramid" in April 2005.

What our society is coming to: Having Domino's teach that pizza is healthy as it falls in multiple food groups. (And schools allowing it!) "The students learned about good nutrition and the food pyramid because pizza has many of the food groups that are included."

Time to face the facts: Nutrition information can sometimes be confusing. We're here to help demystify these food topics:Pyramid principles.Healthy diet basics: Using a food pyramid.Food groups and food pyramids: What you should know.Mediterranean food pyramid: What's on the menu?Asian food pyramid: The principles of Far Eastern fare.

Balanced, healthy eating is based on the "Food Pyramid" which contains six main food groups. Eating a balanced diet means eating foods from each of the six main food groups, each day and excluding fats, oils & sweets.

A new food guide pyramid, based on traditional Latin American foods, from the group that created The Mediterranean Diet.

In choosing the healing foods on this pyramid, each one of us contributes to our own health. Click on the categories in the pyramid to access highlights for each food group.