Check out my progress on Points for Harvard
A few months ago, you may recall that the USDA released MyPlate, the latest rendition of its food guide. Although perhaps more easily understood than the previous MyPyramid, the new graphic is far from perfect. In my humble opinion, MyPlate is overly simplistic in that it lacks specifications on the kinds of each food group that are appropriate for a healthy diet. It also frosts my cookies a bit that “dairy” is so prominently featured—a clear indication of the political agenda that lies beneath the USDA dietary guidelines.
Fortunately, the Harvard School of Public Health has come to the rescue with a modified “Healthy Eating Plate.”
As you can see, there is far more information provided here—but not so much as to confuse the average American.
- For both the protein and oil categories, the descriptor “healthy” has been added, along with a short explanation of which proteins and oils are best for optimal nutrition.
- The dairy serving has been replaced with a tall glass of water, and the accompanying text discourages the consumption of sugar drinks, which have become a huge part of American diets. In fact, the average adolescent consumes 357 kcalories per day from sugar-sweetened beverages, 67% of which is from soft drinks.
- The vegetables portion takes up the majority of the plate—with the added emphasis that French fries are not a vegetable.
- There is a reminder about maintaining regular physical activity. This component is conspicuously absent from MyPlate.
Harvard gets points (yet again) from Caroline.
Side note: We can really thank the Harvard School of Public Health for the existence of this blog. As a young teenager, I read Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy by Walter C. Willett (chair of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health), and I was soon fascinated by the field of nutrition. From there, I developed a passion for the subject, and here I am today, pursuing my master’s!
What do you think of MyPlate? Is it an improvement over the old Pyramid? What do you like/dislike about the Harvard version?
Here’s how my plate(s) shaped up today.
More pumpkin action happened this morning before class. Pumpkin + dates + almonds make one magical combination.
For lunch, I packed a simple Curried Tofu Salad.
Seth and I had a weeknight dinner date tonight, so I decided to combine his two of his favorite foods—cheese and tuna—in some Tuna Melts. I mixed the tuna with some parsley, lemon juice, garlic, hot sauce, and just a touch of mayonnaise (based roughly on a recipe from Eating Well).
For dessert, I made Ellie’s Rainbow Fruit Skewers.
My tweaks:
-I used slightly darker chocolate (86% cacao versus 60-70% cacao). I received this Ghirardelli chocolate as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program.
-I switched out some of the fruit, based on what was available. I used kiwi, strawberries, grapes, and oranges. I skipped the blueberries and pineapple.
This was my first time making chocolate-covered anything, and I was amazed at how easy it is! I just made a makeshift double-boiler, dipped the berries in the melted chocolate, and Voila! Dessert was born. This chocolate coating was pretty intense though, so next time I might use a 60-70% cacao version.
OK, I have a date with my foam roller. G’night!
Filed under: Meals
Caroline Yoder, dietitian-to-be and all-around foodie.
Hey! I can relate to so many things on this post!
I love Harvard’s new plate (even posted it on FB a few days ago) and Walter Willett’s books, I made tuna melt last week, just finished eating a grilled tuna sandwich with shallots+cilantro paste for dinner, and I bought dates and strawberries this week.
Right on: “It also frosts my cookies a bit that “dairy” is so prominently featured—a clear indication of the political agenda that lies beneath the USDA dietary guidelines.”
PS Kids and dairy — necessary?
I’m very interested in the alternative to MyPlate you show here. It really frustrates me that the new USDA guidelines are structured that way. Honestly, I’d love to see something like “25% veggies” or something like that because it can be applied to dishes that aren’t a chicken breast with a side of brown rice, some veggies and a little fruit with a glass of milk. That’s what this represents to me and I don’t think it emphasizes healthy choices enough. ANYWAY, that said, the Let’s Move campaign and the White House garden are awesome…. I just think this is poorly conceived.
I think myplate sucks. Haha.
Great post.
Have fun with the foam roller! Those strawberries look so amazing! I love dark chocolate anything!!
YES! I felt the same way about MyPlate, it’s so misleading! I love how Harvard’s specifies exactly what’s healthy and what’s unhealthy in each category. So much clearer!
Great post, enjoyed your comparison.
Love the skewers!! They look incredible
I love the new Harvard alternative! Much more informative.
Your pumpkin breakfast looks so good!
I like Harvard’s plate much better than “My Plate”. Especially because they include healthy sources of fats and oils. From my experience I feel like hell if I haven’t got enough fat in my diet.
Except why is the thing of oil as gigantic as the glass of water? If this is about “ratios” I really don’t think I should be drinking oil out the bottle.
I like the IDEA of simplifying nutrition down this far but in reality a lot of the categories can overlap. Broccoli and spinach are veggies, but they’ve also got 4+ grams of protein. And quinoa? Grain or protein? If I have salmon does that count as part of my “healthy oil”?
And if you’re only eating 1 serving of dairy/dairy-replacement but not educated and choosing other calcium-rich foods or taking a supplement… then that’s also a problem.
I just don’t think anything as simple as a picture of a plate with some generalities is ENOUGH education.
I could create a plate exactly like that at every meal and still not be adequately nourishing my body.
BroccoliHut Reply:
September 22nd, 2011 at 7:41 pm
Well said! I agree that the complexities of proper nutrition cannot be captured in a simple graphic. The trouble is, the average American has approximately zero attention span when it comes to nutrition education. So I guess the reasoning was that getting a simple, albeit incomplete, message across to the American public is better than nothing.
Here are my 2 cents about food guides (regardless of the form they take, or who may or may not be influencing them):
In general, if someone truly follows the recommendations in these food guides properly, they will not be deficient in any nutrients. This assumes they are not suffering any malabsorption issues, or have increased needs for certain things as well. A guide needs to be simplified so those with minimal knowledge about the subject can easily make food choices to obtain optimal health.
That being said, people are not perfect, and do not follow guides to a T. And some of the recommendations are too wishy washy – in Canada’s food guide, it states to make at least half your grains come from whole grain products. Not bad, but why can’t we just say make the majority or as many as you can from whole grain? Or limit refined grains? Or something similar.
What I like about the Harvard version is that they do put emphasis on healthy choices in each category, more so than any guide I’ve seen. I am unsure where I stand on their limitation of dairy. And I do not like that they have lumped potatoes with french fries as “not vegetables”. A baked potato is not something we should vilify, and it is not the same as french fries.
And of course, there are plenty of ways to meet all your requirements without adhering to a food guide as well. The problem is when people don’t adhere to any style of healthy eating, and that is what we need to change. And I don’t think we should be so quick to criticize simplifying the complex world of nutrition. We cannot expect everyone to be an expert on everything, so we need to find the tools to help people make the right choices. If a simple guide such as MyPlate can do that, awesome.
I like the Harvard version and I also agree that the simplified version is an improvement over the complete lack of knowledge most people have about what they should be eating. I have highly educated friends who fed their children nutritionally obscene meals and never had a clue. The plate gives a simple picture in your head that you can use as a guide when putting together meals. When I grew up in the 60′s, my mom always had a protein, vegetable, tossed salad (I KNOw, it’s another vegetable), a carbohydrate and milk for dinner. It worked pretty well.