Personal pyramid planner builds menus to your design

0 Comments | USA TODAY, March, 2008 | by Heather Terwilliger

If you're looking for guidance on how to improve your diet, the Department of Agriculture has a new menu-planning tool that could become your new best friend.

The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion has crafted a free Internet program that allows users to type in information about what they are eating and see how their diet stacks up nutritionally.

The planner calculates what the user should be consuming in grains, vegetables, fruit, milk and protein and gives directions on how to reach those goals.

For example, if a person wants to increase consumption of whole grains, tips include trying oatmeal or snacking on ready-to-eat, whole grain cereals. Want to increase milk consumption? Try topping your baked potato with fat-free yogurt.

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