HEALTH WATCH : Salad Days

The political pressures that for more than a year delayed release of the Agriculture Department’s revised guidelines for healthy eating--basically, the meat industry complained that its products had been given short shrift--shouldn’t be allowed to overshadow the public health value of what has now been unveiled.

The new recommendations are based on a large and growing body of research showing that what we eat can very much affect what diseases we get or are able to avoid or postpone. Diets high in fiber and with adequate levels of certain vitamins tend to be health-promoting. Diets heavy in fats, which usually means those low in grains, fruits and vegetables, invite health woes, including heart disease and certain cancers. That much is known. The new food pyramid will do a lot to help spread the word.

What should we be eating, then? Ideally, six to 11 daily servings of breads, cereals, rice and pasta, three to five servings of vegetables, two to four of fruits, two or three of dairy products, two or three servings--five to seven ounces--of lean meat, poultry, fish, dry beans and peas, eggs, nuts and seeds. Fats and oils should be used sparingly.

Don’t be fooled by that word serving ; it’s less than you might think. One ounce of dry cereal for breakfast, two slices of bread at lunch and a cup and a half of cooked pasta at dinner, for example, would total six servings, the minimum recommendation in the grain and rice category. This is all explained in the new food pyramid chart, which Americans will soon be seeing a lot of. Bon appetit , and please pass the legumes.