Nutrition Basics
There are many factors that influence our eating and drinking behavior, such as individual needs and preferences (cravings), our social environment and social status, the range of food currently available to us, our health status and so on.
Despite these numerous influencing factors which logically result in an extremely varied choice of nutritional methods, there are nevertheless certain guidance values and recommendations regarding the consumption of food.
The recommendations given below are intended only for healthy adults (and not, for example, for growing children or people suffering from a metabolic disorder).
The Food Pyramid
The Food Pyramid is a very graphic way to illustrate nutrition guidelines.
The following chart and the text were kindly made available to us by the Swiss Society for Nutrition.
The Food Pyramid represents a balanced mix of food which guarantees an adequate supply of energy and of vitally important nutrients and protective substances, and it plays a major part in our wellbeing. Foods at the lower levels of the pyramid should be eaten in larger quantities, while those at the higher levels should be taken in smaller amounts. All the foods are allowed. It is important that they are selected and prepared with as much variety as possible, and preferably as appropriate to each season.