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 The food guide pyramid was superseded by the current USDA nutrition advisory program titled "MyPyramid" in April 2005.

Harvard has released an alternative food pyramid and nutrition guide. It’s a really great way to spend 16 bucks because, although the US pyramid is both free and pretty, the Harvard version flat-out rocks. Harvard oh-so-politely counters the so-called “balanced diet” approach as being totally meaningless (which it is).

This article is a great source on how to live a healthy life. Notable differences with The Healthy Eating Pyramid include daily exercise, Multi Vitamin Supplement, and yes MODERATE consumption of ALCOHOL. So you need to exercise, watch those red meats, and watch those bad carbohydrates!