My mom kept this poster inside a cupboard to make sure we were well fed.

A couple of years ago, with the advent of the "plate," which replaced the "food pyramid," I went on a search for the food wheel that my mom kept taped up on the inside of a cupboard door. I knew it made a lot more sense than either the plate or the pyramid, but I couldn't find it anywhere. I searched for hours. Now that I am a low carber and a strong believer in the premise that we created a myriad of health problems when we went to a low fat diet, I wanted to see that wheel again. I knew fat got high priority on the wheel, but the pyramid gave carbohydrates the whole base, and fat was just a little bit at the tip of the pyramid.

I had hoped by the time they replaced the (terrible!) pyramid with the plate, it would be better balanced, but again, the butter got put on a dessert plate off to the side. What? Do the people who create these things do any research? Low fat diets are not healthy for a variety of reasons, not for anybody. But they are especially bad for people with insulin resistance, or diseases that are spawned from it such as Type 2 diabetes, arthritis and heart trouble. Then add neurological disorders like bi-polar disorder, autism, epilepsy and clinical depression that are exacerbated by carbyhydrates. I hope you get my point and are going to start googling to check me out.

So what happened today? Lo and behold, I found "The Wheel" in an article in the Washington Post about the dangers of eating fast food. Once I knew exactly what it was called, and that it was produced by the USDA, it was easy to find it.  Here it is.

I'm almost certain this is exactly what my mom kept posted in her kitchen.

Notice on this wheel that nothing was denigrated, especially not fat, dairy and meat. The only thing I stay away from on this wheel are the bread, flour and cereals, but that is my issue. Most people can tolerate them better than I can. Oh, do notice that there is no section for SUGAR!

I remember my mom checking that chart, and we truly were well fed. No desserts. There were six of us, so that meant six birthday cakes (or maybe only five, as I never remember one for Mom) each year. Dessert for us was a bowl of fruit, in the winter maybe some home canned peaches, or even store bought. I know, a lot of sugar, but it was never the highlight of the meal and often it was just skipped.

You can read the Washington Post article here, but while it is interesting, it isn't really what this post is about.  Good info, but I'm just so happy I found "The Wheel."

Thank you, Mom.