4. Does The Four Food Plan Work?

To complete our evaluation of the USDA Four Food Group diet plan, we should see how well or how poorly it delivers what it promises: a balanced and complete diet that satisfies our basic nutritional needs.

Here is one meal that supposedly furnishes "all of the serving amounts for one day," as recommended by this diet plan:

The "Complete" Nutritional Meal

1. Two cheeseburgers
   
2. A milkshake
   
3. One order of french fried potatoes
   
4. A hot apple turnover

Here's how this meal breaks down into serving amounts and food groups:

1. Meat Group - Two servings of hamburger patties
   
2. Milk Group - One serving of cheese and one of milk
   
3. Bread Group - Four servings of hamburger buns
   
4. Fruit and Vegetable - Four servings, with one of potatoes, one of apple filling, and two for the lettuce, tomatoes, and onions on the cheeseburgers.

And there you have it. A fast food meal that "meets" all he requirements for one day of nutrition as described by the Four Food Group diet plan.

Of course the USDA did not actually mean that we should eat fast food and junk food to meet their serving requirements, but please note that they did not recommend that such foods not be eaten.

This is another major shortcoming of the Four Food Group Diet plan—there are no provisions for eliminating the really harmful and destructive foods (salt, sugar, cooked fats, white flour, etc.) that are such a large part of the typical diet, and no provisions are made for proper food combining.

Like so many other diets, the Four Food Group diet plan concentrates entirely on what we should eat and how much, and ignores the harmful foods that we should avoid.

The best thing that can be said for the Four Food Group approach to nutrition is that it is simple and easy to understand. Even children can divide the foods they eat into basic categories and serving amounts.

But if the categories are all wrong . and, the serving amounts are totally meaningless, then what does it matter if anyone can understand the diet plan?

Let's look at an even easier-to-understand "Basic Four Food Group" diet plan that follows the rules for optimum nutrition.