The Healthy Eating Plate, created by nutrition experts at Harvard
School of Public Health and editors at Harvard Health Publications, was
designed to address deficiencies in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s
MyPlate. The Healthy Eating Plate provides detailed guidance, in a simple
format, to help people make the best eating choices.
Use The Healthy Eating Plate
as a guide for creating healthy, balanced meals—whether served on a plate or
packed in a lunch box. Put a copy on the refrigerator as a daily reminder to
create healthy, balanced meals!
![Healthy Eating Plate](https://img1.daumcdn.net/relay/cafe/original/?fname=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn1.sph.harvard.edu%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F30%2F2012%2F09%2FHEPJan2015-1024x808.jpg)
Aim for color and variety, and
remember that potatoes don’t count as vegetables on the Healthy Eating Plate
because of their negative impact on blood sugar.
- Go
for whole grains – ¼ of your plate:
Whole and intact grains—whole wheat, barley, wheat berries, quinoa, oats, brown
rice, and foods made with them, such as whole wheat pasta—have a milder effect
on blood sugar and insulin than white bread, white rice, and other refined
grains.
- Protein
power – ¼ of your plate:
Fish, chicken, beans, and nuts
are all healthy, versatile protein sources—they can be mixed into salads, and pair
well with vegetables on a plate. Limit red meat, and avoid processed meats such
as bacon and sausage.
- Healthy
plant oils – in moderation:
Choose healthy vegetable oils like olive, canola, soy, corn,
sunflower, peanut, and others, and avoid partially hydrogenated oils, which
contain unhealthy trans fats. Remember that low-fat does not mean “healthy.”
- Drink
water, coffee, or tea:
Skip sugary drinks, limit milk and dairy products to one to two
servings per day, and limit juice to a small glass per day.
The red figure running across
the Healthy Eating Plate’s placemat is a reminder that staying active is also important in weight control.
The main
message of the Healthy Eating Plate is to focus on diet quality.
- The type of carbohydrate in the diet is more
important than the amount of carbohydrate in
the diet, because some sources of carbohydrate—like vegetables (other
than potatoes), fruits, whole grains, and
beans—are healthier than others.
- The
Healthy Eating Plate also advises consumers to avoid sugary beverages, a major source of
calories—usually with little nutritional value—in the American diet.
- The
Healthy Eating Plate encourages consumers to use healthy oils, and it does not set a
maximum on the percentage of calories people should get each day from
healthy sources of fat. In this way, the Healthy Eating Plate recommends
the opposite of the low-fat message promoted for decades by the USDA.
What about
alcohol? Isn’t alcohol supposed to be good for you in small amounts?
Alcohol in moderation is beneficial, and it’s illustrated
in Harvard’s Healthy Eating Pyramid from 2005. But it’s not for
everyone, which is why it is not included in the Healthy Eating Plate.
Will the
Healthy Eating Pyramid be going away?
Generations
of Americans are accustomed to the food pyramid design, and it’s not going
away. In fact, the Healthy Eating Pyramid and the Healthy Eating Plate
complement each other.
Consumers
can think of the Healthy Eating Pyramid as a grocery list:
- Vegetables,
fruits, whole grains, healthy oils, and healthy proteins like nuts, beans,
fish, and chicken should make it into the shopping cart every week, along
with a little yogurt or milk if desired.
- The
Healthy Eating Pyramid also addresses other aspects of a healthy
lifestyle—exercise, weight control, vitamin D, and multivitamin
supplements, and moderation in alcohol for people who drink—so it’s a
useful tool for health professionals and health educators.