i've taken a bit of interest in the recommended (government) food intake. there is always so much controversy around which way of eating is "right" i thought i'd do some really basic and simple fact finding.
this is what i found:

http://kyky.essortment.com/whatisfoodpyr_pdh.htm

Imagine an 8-ounce steak, small green salad, slice of garlic toast and a cup of coffee.
Seems like a pretty balanced meal. But according to the USDA's Food Guide Pyramid, that steak dinner itself isn't balanced - but it can easily be part of a balanced daily diet.
The confusion stems from misunderstanding a deceptively simple term: serving.
The USDA Food Guide Pyramid breaks the food groups into small servings. A USDA serving isn't necessarily how much we expect the cook to put on our plates. It's just a unit, a way of thinking about what you eat.
Unfortunately, food packages don't all reflect the USDA philosophy. The consumer needs to do a little rough math and measuring in the market and the kitchen.
Grain
The USDA suggests a daily diet of 6 to 11 servings of bread, cereal, rice or pasta. All these foods are based on grain, so call this the grain group. A serving of grain is 1 slice of bread; ½ cup of pasta, rice or cooked cereal; or 1 ounce of cold cereal.
Most breads label 1 slice as 1 serving, same as the USDA. Cold cereals are different. Their labeled servings generally fall into two styles. Lightweight cereals such as Honey Comb and Lucky Charms make their servings about 1 ounce, while labeled servings of denser cereals such as Mini-Wheats and Multi-Bran Chex come closer to 2 ounces.
Veggies
The Pyramid suggests 3 to 5 servings of vegetables every day. This is surprisingly easy to satisfy since a mere ½ cup of vegetables, cooked or raw, equals 1 serving.
Raw leafy fare such as spinach or romaine in a salad calls for a full 1 cup. Also, ¾ cup vegetable juice (the amount in a small can of the leading brand) counts as 1 serving.
Fruit
We need 2 to 4 servings of fruit. A serving is a small can of fruit juice (3/4 cup, or 5.5 fluid ounces), or ½ cup "chopped, cooked or canned fruit," according to the USDA. It's also a medium banana, orange, or apple.
Protein
Sure, you get protein from grain, but this class is for meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs or nuts. The USDA suggests 2 to 3 servings of these foods.
Flesh - chicken, turkey, fish sticks, tuna, beef, pork, mutton - equals 1 serving at 2 to 3 ounces. So, an 8-ounce boneless steak is 2.6 to 4 servings.
Older people don't need and can't use a lot of protein unless they weight train to build muscle mass. In fact, excess protein in the diet of older people puts a strain on the kidneys and can contribute to dehydration. If you are 65 years old, for example, count that 8-ounce steak as 4 servings.
The USDA equates 1 ounce of lean meat with 1 egg, 2 tablespoons peanut butter or ½ cup dry beans. That's a lot of beans - 1 to 1½ cups before cooking to equal a serving.
Dairy
Another easy requirement to fulfil with 2 to 3 servings of milk, yogurt or cheese. A single serving is 1 cup of milk or yogurt. Regular individually sold yogurt comes in 1-cup containers (8 ounces).
Only 1½ ounces of natural cheese (cheddar, Monterey jack, mozzarella, queso fresco) equals 1 serving, but it takes 2 ounces of process cheese to make 1 serving.
Fats, oils and sweets
All the USDA says about these jewels is "use sparingly." A slice of pie can give you 1 serving of fruit, but it contributes sugar and fat. Cheese, whole milk, bacon in the beans, eggs scrambled in butter, fatback in the turnip greens and salad dressings can bust the "sparingly" bar.
Using portions
Here's how that steak dinner breaks out in Food Pyramid servings.
A meat serving is 2 to 3 ounces, putting the steak at 2.67 to 4 servings - your daily cap. Count the small salad as 1 cup leafy greens, which is 1 serving from the vegetable group. The slice of garlic toast is 1 serving of the grain group, leaving you 5 to 10 grain servings to go.
Remember that the Food Guide Pyramid was designed to help, not persecute. The Pyramid offers ways to get eat a balanced diet, including a steak dinner.
Let's say that breakfast was a cup of yogurt, a slice of toast (with jam or butter), a tall glass of orange juice (1.5 cups) and a banana. That's 1 serving dairy, 1 serving grain and a whopping 3 servings of fruit! (The juice is a double ¾-cup serving.)
Around midmorning you ate a medium apple (1 fruit serving) and a small can of vegetable juice (1 vegetable serving).
For lunch you had a hefty grilled cheese sandwich (2 grain, 1 dairy), corn on the cob and ½ cup slaw, (2 vegetables) 1 cup rice (1 grain) and 1 cup skim milk (1 dairy).
So far you have 3 dairy, 4 fruit, 3 vegetable and 4 grain servings - not bad at all!
In the afternoon, munch ½ cup of carrot sticks with a whole split bagel and strawberry jam and you're up to 4 servings of vegetables and 6 servings of grain.
Now your steak dinner fits in nicely. A fruity dessert such as peach ambrosia over nonfat ice cream finishes off a day of balanced eating.
Author's name omitted by request


could you imagine. so i plugged it in to fitday, and this is what i got:
Calories Eaten Today
source grams cals %total
Total: 2833
Fat: 102 922 33%
Sat: 41 367 13%
Poly: 20 179 6%
Mono: 32 288 10%
Carbs: 362 1345 48%
Fiber: 25 0 0%
Protein: 130 520 19%

imagine that. i wouldn't put my name on this either. someone please find me an authority that will back this up.
totally insane.
just thought i'd share. remember those low fat diet pushers believe in this crap.
regards,
brenda

Thanks for the information. It really blowed my mind into outer space. I should paste and copy this and sent to the doctor who requested that a low fat/low calorie/high carb diet who help me after my strokes. I quit him and found a doctor that started me on my way to atkins and now I feel 100% better.
Thanks again.
Have a great lo carb evening