What does your plate look like?

Nutrition experts at Harvard released their “Healthy Eating Plate” last week, and I think its great – simple guidelines to follow to ensure you’re eating a healthy diet.

Based on the latest science, the guide recommends that half your plate is produce (a variety of fresh veggies & fruit), a quarter is filled with whole grains (wheatberries, quinoa, whole grain bread & pasta, bulger, spelt, brown & wild rice, natural oatmeal, hulled barley, buckwheat, etc.) and the other quarter is a lean protein source (poultry, fish, beans & nuts). 

The plate also suggests choosing healthy fats (olive & canola oil), drinking more water and cutting back on dairy, juice, sugary drinks and red meat. I was also pleased to see that one cup of tea or coffee per day made the cut. 

A “healthy diet” can be an overwhelming topic in our society today. With all the blogs out there, TV shows, phone apps, etc. it can feel like you’re being bombarded with mixed messages on what “healthy” is. 

I like the “Healthy Eating Plate” because it simplifies the basics of a healthy diet. I also like it because it validates what I’ve been learning over the past year in my nutrition course.

There are always exceptions to every rule, especially with nutrition because everyone is different with individual health needs. However, I think this is a great guideline that most people can follow in order to live a healthy lifestyle.

A Globe & Mail blog posted an interesting article about the ‘Healthy Eating Plate’ and pointed out that it doesn’t touch on calories, which I think is fine. Caloric intake is a really important aspect of a healthy lifestyle, but it’s so different for everyone, and is impossible to develop a standard guideline for.

What do you think of the Healthy Eating Plate? Do you think it’s missing anything? Is this a guideline you could see yourself adopting?