People eat foods and not nutrients; as few people know which foods supply which nutrients, allowing people to self-regulate their diets means that they run the obvious risk of deficiency. Due to past difficulties of educating people about nutrient intake, governments have opted to counsel on what foods to eat rather than on what nutrients to ingest.

Most states set guidelines for a healthy diet -- these usually vary slightly from country to country based upon demographics. These guidelines do however usually share the same recommendations of eating less fried or fatty foods to reduce cholesterol. Many guidelines suggest replacing certain foods with healthier alternatives that supply an abundance of nutrients, for instance using legumes or beans within a salad or pasta.

As BMI and weight changes from person to person, the general Reference Nutrient Intakes (RNI) set by governmental institutions may be somewhat lacking for some people, despite the fact that the RNI is generally calculated as higher than the average nutrient intake. It is even thought^[who?] that some people may have needs above that of the RNI, meaning even if a person ate the recommended amount of nutrients, they would still suffer deficiency. The only real way to know the RNI for many people is to monitor the intake of nutrients and amount of exercise.

Examples of specific recommendations include:

• The Dietary Reference Intake system, used to set recommended amounts of various nutrients on food labels in the United States and Canada.
• MyPyramid, formerly food guide pyramid, a graphical recommendation from the United States Department of Agriculture.
• Canada's Food Guide
• Britain's Eatwell Plate

Some groups have been critical of the U.S. pyramids, alleging poor scientific basis, and influence from food producers. Harvard School of Public Health researchers have proposed their own healthy eating pyramid.

The Mayo Clinic has also developed their own pyramid called the "Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid." It's suggestions are:

• An unlimited number of servings of fruits per day, with a minimum of three servings.
• An unlimited number of servings of vegetables per day, with a minimum of four servings.
• Four to eight servings of carbohydrates per day.
• Three to seven servings of protein and dairy per day.
• Three to five servings of fats per day.
• And up to 75 calories of sweets per day.

The Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid site also offers suggestions on how to use a food pyramid including keeping a diary of foods you're eating. This way you can adjust your diet if it is too heavy in some areas and lacking in others.

A high-level summary of Government Guidance is:

• Make sure that you eat five different types of fruit and vegetables every day. Every day also make sure that you eat at least one thing from each of the different food groups: Carbohydrates, Fruit and vegetables, Protein, Dairy, and Fats. Remember to eat the most fruit and vegetables, and the least fats.
• Too much salt gives you high blood pressure; a high fat diet will give you hard and narrow arteries that could lead to heart attacks and strokes, possibly even death.
  
   
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