The ’90s were full of questionable choices.
But while we’ve left most of them behind — see frosted tips, ultra-baggy jeans and Beanie Babies — a food habit born in 1992 is still a pretty permanent fixture in many people’s lives.
And according to Dr. Michael Aziz, a physician and author of The Ageless Revolution, it’s wreaking havoc on your energy levels.
Back in 1992, the US government released its first version of the food pyramid, inspired by ones developed in Sweden in the 1970s. The pyramid broke down how much of our daily diets should be comprised of bread, fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy and fats.
It put bread, cereal, rice and pasta at the base, recommending six to 11 servings a day. That was followed by three to five servings of vegetables, two to four servings of fruit, two to three servings of milk and cheese, and two to three servings of protein like meat, eggs and nuts.
All the way at the top, with a warning to use sparingly, were fats, oils and sweets.
That version of the food pyramid stuck around until 2005, and Dr. Aziz said it encouraged a lot of people to focus on low-fat diets, which are not the healthiest choice.
Among other benefits, healthy fats from things like nuts and avocados are instrumental in keeping our energy up, while too many carbs make us crash.
“What really depletes the body of energy is having too much sugar in the body, having too much refined carbohydrates. You get that spike of sugar and you feel energized, but then, before you know it, your energy drops,” he told The Post.
“You want to have steady sugar all day long. And to have steady sugar, you have to have more protein and more fat in your diet.”
Including healthy fats like nuts, seeds, olive oil, and avocados in your meal plan will give you more energy, he added. This is especially true when it comes to exercise.
“Studies show that people who eat fat before working out can have more energy to work out at the gym,” he said. “And then after the gym, after working out, you can have your carbs, your banana.”
The carb-focused food pyramid was already earning criticism at the time of its release. Part of the problem was that all fats were grouped together in a single spot on the pyramid — but not all fats are created equal. While saturated fat can raise cholesterol levels and in turn lead to heart diseases, that’s not the case for monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fat.
“The food guide pyramid that was developed in 1991 really is based on the idea that all fat is bad. Therefore [if] fat is bad, and you have to eat something, carbohydrate must be wonderful,” Dr. Walter Willett told Frontline in 2004.
“This pyramid is really not compatible with good scientific evidence,” he went on.
And even though the US government’s guidance was updated in 2005, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health nutrition expert David Ludwig says they didn’t do enough to fix public perceptions.
“In the absence of this corrective process, public health harms persist, with the low-fat diet remaining deeply embedded in public consciousness and food policy,” he wrote for CNN.
“The science of nutrition is complex. But we know that the low-fat diet of the last 40 years didn’t work.”
Other ways to get an energy boost
While balancing your diet is the surest way to keep energy levels steady, Dr. Aziz said vitamin D can help too, especially in the winter when it gets darker earlier.
As for other supplements, various forms of vitamin B and CoQ10 may also may a difference. Coffee, green tea, and other caffeinated drinks are ALSO all good in moderation — “as long as you don’t over do it.”
