The food pyramid of Indonesian nutritional tumpeng, is not just healthy eating

Did you know that the ideal diet is different for each country? Yes, this is influenced by the nutritional needs, natural resources, the physical and racial conditions of every inhabitant of the world, to the condition of each country which of course is also different. This dietary guide is usually described in a visual form. Some are in the form of pagodas, tops and pyramids. Indonesia uses a food pyramid called Tumpeng Gizi Balanced. What do these dietary guidelines look like?

Tumpeng Gizi Balanced, a food pyramid that is better than "4 healthy 5 perfect"

Reported on the page of the Indonesian Ministry of Health, Balanced Nutrition Tumpeng was designed to improve the old principle of "4 healthy 5 perfect" which was considered no longer appropriate. Tumpeng balanced nutrition not only contains guidelines for healthy eating, but guidelines for a healthy lifestyle as a whole which includes physical activity and personal hygiene.

Here is a picture of the food pyramid that applies in Indonesia:

Balanced Nutrition Tumpeng from the Indonesian Ministry of Health

The new guidelines have 10 messages related to food, nutrition and health.

1. Be thankful and enjoy a variety of food
2. Eat lots of vegetables and enough fruit
3. Get used to consuming side dishes that contain high protein
4. Get used to eating a variety of staple foods
5. Limit consumption of sweet, salty and fatty foods
6. Get used to breakfast
7. Get used to drinking enough and safe water
8. Get used to reading labels on food packaging
9. Wash your hands with soap with clean running water
10. Get enough physical activity and maintain a normal body weight

Designing a healthy diet based on Tumpeng Gizi Balanced recommendations

Before starting to design a healthy diet for you to apply every day, it's a good idea to first understand how to read this food pyramid.

Tumpeng Gizi Balanced has 4 layers of "tumpeng". From the top of the tumpeng to the bottom it will widen. This means that the larger the tumpeng layer area, the more you need it in large quantities.

Let's take one layer of tumpeng from the bottom up one by one to help determine what a healthy diet looks like for you.

1. Portion of staple food

The lowest layer of tumpeng is the staple food area. There are pictures of maize, rice, cassava, sweet potatoes and other tubers which are commonly used as staple foods for Indonesians.

Recommended staple portions: 3-4 servings in 1 day.

How much per serving will depend on what your staple food choices are. One ideal portion of rice is about 100 grams. This amount is equivalent to 1 medium sweet potato (135 grams) and 1 piece of cassava weighing 120 grams. One serving of rice is also equal to 2 medium potatoes with a total weight of 210 grams.

Tumpeng Gizi Balanced recommends varying the types of your staple food every day. You don't have to just eat rice to fulfill your optimal nutritional needs.

2. Portion of fruit and vegetables

Going up to the top layer, you meet the "floor" of fruit and vegetables. Various pictures of vegetables and fruit show that there are many kinds of vegetables and fruits that you can consume.

Recommended servings of fruits and vegetables: 3-4 servings of vegetables in one meal, while fruit servings are recommended 2-3 servings in one day.

For example, breakfast with a portion of rice and side dishes and 1 cup of spinach soup, then lunch with rice and 1 cup of tamarind vegetables, and dinner with rice and 1 cup of capcay. You can also vary the types of vegetables in one bowl.

Likewise with your fruit servings in one day. For example, in the morning you snack on 1 bowl of freshly cut apples, during the day you eat one plate, and dinner is closed with a bowl of fruit salad.

3. Portion source of protein

Moving further up from vegetables and fruit is a layer that contains recommended portions of protein sources, both animal protein (fish, chicken, meat, eggs, milk, seafood) and vegetable protein sources (nuts, tempeh, tofu).

This variety of protein source foods shows that to meet the body's protein needs, not only one type of food can be done. For example, you shouldn't drink milk if you have a milk allergy or lactose intolerance. You can replace milk, for example, with fish. Vice versa if you have a seafood allergy or don't eat meat. You can still get protein intake from a variety of food choices.

Recommended protein portions: 2-4 servings of protein food sources per day.

For example, if you choose 3 servings of protein every day, you could divide it into: 1 slice of fish in the morning, 1 egg during the day, and 1 glass of milk at night.

4. Portions of salt, sugar, oil

At the top of the Tumpeng Gizi Indonesia food pyramid, you will meet a picture of a spoon of sugar, salt and oil. This narrow peak area indicates that You should not consume too much sugar, salt, and oil every day.

Recommended amounts of sugar, salt and oil: a maximum of 4 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 5 tablespoons of oil in one day.

Remember that you should also consider the large amounts of sugar, salt, and oil in your packaged, fast food, bottled drinks and daily snacks. The tips, you can read the nutritional value information label on the packaging.

5. Portions of drinking water

Next to the floor of the protein source, there is a picture of a glass of water. This is also a warning for you, don't forget to consume about 8 glasses of water per day to prevent dehydration.

Don't forget to maintain personal hygiene and exercise regularly

After designing your own version of the best eating pattern by following the Indonesian Tumpeng Gizi guidelines, there are several other things that you need to plan every day, namely maintaining personal hygiene by washing your hands regularly and doing physical activities to maintain a healthy body weight.

Even though they are not related to nutritional intake, these two things are still closely related to your nutritional status. Health problems, such as viral and bacterial infections, to diseases related to a sedentary lifestyle (obesity, heart disease, to diabetes), can endanger the health of the body.

If you are already sick, your appetite can decrease dramatically. Reduced food intake prevents the body from getting enough of the nutrients it needs. A person suffering from malnutrition will have the risk of contracting an infectious disease because his immune system decreases. This in turn has an effect on your overall nutritional status.

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