• Consistency with patterns of eating of other healthy populations of the world;
• Availability of data describing the character of food consumption patterns of these populations; and
• The convergence of dietary patterns revealed by these data with our current understanding of optimal nutrition based on epidemiological studies and clinical trials worldwide.

The design of the The Traditional Healthy Vegetarian Diet Pyramid is not based solely on either the weight or the percentage of energy (calories) that foods account for in the diet. It represents a blend of these that gives relative proportions and a general sense of frequency of servings, as well as an indication of which foods to favor in a healthy vegetarian diet.