In a previous blog post, I wrote about how difficult it is for survivors and co-survivors of cardiac arrest to wade through the overwhelming amount of information about how to develop a healthy eating pattern. In that post, I introduced the article “U.S. News Reveals Best Diet Rankings for 2022,” a helpful resource that provides reviews from a team of experts on the top diets in several different categories. However, even this clearly written article explores 38 different types of eating patterns, which is enough to make most of our heads spin. Fortunately, there is another resource that is simpler and clearer, yet neatly summarizes much of the information from the healthiest diets, and that is the model of the plate.
The plate model is intended to be a visual guide to developing a balanced and healthy overall diet. While it can be useful in creating a single healthy meal, most of our meals combine the foods in various ways and often aren’t divided up into neat quarters on the plate. Many countries use slightly different versions of this model, for example the “Healthy Eating Plate” from Harvard University in the United States, “Canada’s Food Guide” from the Canadian government, and the “Eatwell Guide from Public Health England in association with the Welsh Government, Food Standards Scotland and the Food Standards Agency in Northern Ireland.
The models vary somewhat in content, and one could debate the merits of these differences. However, just like the diets we explored in the US News article, it is more important for most people to focus on what these models have in common. All recommend that approximately half of our plates, or actually our diets, should be filled with fruits and vegetables, a quarter with whole grains, and a quarter with proteins. In addition, all recommend adding water as the best drink to go with a meal, as well as limiting or avoiding red meat, processed meats, and processed food. While none of the models advocate for a completely vegetarian or vegan diet, the recommendations in the model are relevant for vegans and vegetarians with a few small adjustments.
I found the plate models to be a helpful way to evaluate my overall diet. After studying the models, I could see many things that I am doing well, such as drinking water and eating fruit, whole grains, and healthy proteins. However, I can still see that I need to eat more vegetables and fewer processed foods. In addition, I tend to get in a rut and make the same meals several times a week, and it would be better to include more variation in my diet.
Below are images of the three models, but I recommend that you also click on the links and explore them in more detail.
Links: Whole Grains • Protein • Vegetables & Fruits • Fats & Cholesterol
Source: Copyright © 2011, Harvard University. For more information about The Healthy Eating Plate, please see The Nutrition Source, Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, www.thenutritionsource.org, and Harvard Health Publications, www.health.harvard.edu.
Links: Vegetables & Fruits • Whole Grains • Protein • Healthy Fats
Source: Canadian Government
Source: Public Health England in association with the Welsh Government, Food Standards Scotland and the Food Standards Agency in Northern Ireland.