What is the food spinning top? Definition and characteristics

Know the food spinning top or top of food, helps us lead a healthy life if we follow the recommendations represented in it by experts in nutrition and health.

What is the food top or food top?

The food spinning top is a modified version of the traditional Food pyramid or the Food group clover that serves as a guide for balanced nutrition based on an omnivorous diet and that incorporates additional essential elements in maintaining health, such as physical activity and water consumption.

The image of the food spinning top is inspired by children's play. The division into five colored stripes from top to bottom groups the foods that should be consumed in a greater proportion in the upper part and from then on in descending order those that should be consumed in a smaller proportion until the narrow base of the spinning top..

Only two countries, so far, use the figure of the food spinning top for their guidelines on nutrition and healthy living: Japan and Venezuela.

In the Japanese recommendation, the five food groups in a decreasing way are: cereals and dishes based on them (pasta, bread); vegetables, mushrooms and seaweed; meat, fish, eggs and soy; milk and derivatives on one side, and fruits on the other, in the same order of importance. Physical activity is represented with a person running on top of the top and the head or spike of the top is a large source of water.

Food groups in the Venezuelan version

The National Institute of Nutrition (INN) of Venezuela has replaced the Food group clover which remained in force until 1993 by the Food spinning top, With this it classifies the foods into five colored bands in which the native foods of the region are grouped in order of proportionality from top to bottom.

The five groups in decreasing order are as follows:

• In the upper yellow strip are complex carbohydrates whose main function is the contribution of energy.

To this group belong the grains: beans, peas, lentils, beans; cereals: rice, corn, wheat, oats; tubers: potato, yucca, yam, banana; and bananas.

Also foods made with them and typical of the region such as arepas (round dough of cooked and ground corn) or casabe (thin unleavened bread made with cassava flour).

It is recommended to include two servings of these foods per meal, alone or in combination among those of the same group, for example, beans with rice, which increases the biological value of the proteins present in the grains when mixed with cereals.

• In the next strip of green fruits and vegetables are grouped. Its function is the contribution of vitamins and minerals, they also provide fiber and water that help regulate intestinal transit. Two servings of vegetables and three of fruits are recommended to ensure a minimum of five servings per day from this food group.

• Proteins are found in the blue band, necessary for the formation of tissues: milk and derivatives (cheeses, yogurt, ice cream), red meat (beef, pork), chicken, fish, shellfish, eggs.

The consumption of these foods should be done in a lower proportion than those of the previous groups: one or two servings of dairy products a day, preferably skimmed and in greater quantities during childhood, pregnancy or lactation; fish at least twice a week; chicken two or three times a week; red meat once or twice a week.

• At the bottom of the top there are two bands of equal importance:

The gray stripe with sugar, honey, and paper (panela, rapadura, piloncillo, tapa de dulce are other names for this preparation not distilled from sugar cane). Its main function is to provide immediate energy.

The papelón or panela and brown sugar provide, in addition to sucrose, some vitamins and minerals. Honey also contains small amounts of protein.

As it is a flavoring, more than three teaspoons a day are not recommended and they are optional, that is, it is not necessary in the diet. In addition, due to the great contribution of energy that, sometimes, is not consumed immediately, it can be stored in the body in the form of body fat, which increases the risk of obesity and diabetes..

The other strip that shares a place at the base of the top is orange and contains the oils and fats. such as butter, vegetable margarine, vegetable oils (soy, sunflower, olive), oilseeds, avocado.

The recommendation of this food group is three teaspoons a day, they are a source of condensed reserve energy and perform important functions in the body such as the formation of cell membranes, in addition to improving the taste and texture of food.

Within this group there are fats that are healthier than others, such as olive oil and avocado, which are rich in polyunsaturated fats and promote the transport and excretion of unhealthy fats from the blood..

• It is vitally important to remember the thread of the top that refers to the consumption of water, which should be eight glasses a day. It should be noted that soups, juices and fruits contain water, so they can be included in this amount.

• Equally relevant is that physical activity is represented at the base of the nutritional spin according to the target population. There is a version that shows a family playing with a ball, another in which different sports are observed, a special one for the indigenous people with their own activities such as hunting and rowing..

The minimum weekly physical activity is 150 minutes spread over the days of the week, not in a single day, which would be a harmful overexertion for the body. Dancing, walking, cycling, running or any other type of exercise that gets the cardiovascular system in motion for 30 minutes 5 days a week is a perfect way to meet this requirement..

We hope that after reading this article, it has become clear to you what the food spinning top is or food spinning top and you are encouraged to try a diet in which you take it into account.