Harvard’s “Healthy Eating Plate” vs. “My Plate”

Harvard's "Healthy Eating Plate"

A few days ago, I was at our local grocery store shopping for our pantry needs and I found myself in the familiar “alternative foods” aisle trying my best to help another shopper find an ingredient.  As I quickly filled my cart with all sorts of gluten free whole grain flours and whole seeds, she ventured out to ask me where one might find “organic wheat flour?”.  I pointed her to the Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat products right in front of us and asked if she needed “whole wheat or white flour”.  She was clearly puzzled by my question… as the moments in the aisle ticked by, I realized in the midst of our conversation that she had no idea the difference between “white flour”, “wheat flour”, and “whole wheat flour”.  Not to mention the labeling behind what is “organic” and “natural” and, well… just plain “regular”.  We talked for a while and I ended up suggesting that she also look in the regular baking aisle if the item I had suggested did not seem to fit her needs.  That is when she raised an eyebrow at me and exclaimed “why would I do that, I am not looking for white flour?”.  I tried to explain to her that “white flour” is indeed made from “wheat” and that “whole wheat flour” is the whole wheat grain milled with the bran intact leaving more nutrients than “white flour”, but… they are both “wheat”!  She did not care for my answer at all and insisted that “white flour is not wheat”.  Then, she looked at the contents of my cart and very clearly let me know that she would not know what to do with “any of that”!  (Obviously meaning that my gluten free flours were very foreign to her).  At that point, I left her to her shopping dilemma and went on my way hoping that she would figure it out for herself.

That exchange taught me just how clueless most people are when it comes to what they eat.  I recall being just overwhelmed when we had to venture down the path of “alternative foods” to avoid foods that our family was allergic to.  I think at that time in my life I really did know that “white flour” was truly “wheat” as I went on to learn about all of it’s replacements.  At first, it was just swapping one starch/grain for another without much thought.  My research quickly brought me to learning about a healthier way of eating:

• using whole gluten free grains and seeds (brown rice, quinoa, millet, amaranth, and teff),
• eating a more balanced meal with the right protein choices and much larger portions of vegetables than I was clearly used to,
• realizing that focusing on one food group all the time is not good,
• eating with all the colors of the rainbow in mind provides a wide array of nutrients,
• and providing my body with healthy fats (some even saturated) for good brain function.

Wow, has our family come a long way nutritionally speaking since those early days of just “avoiding allergy foods”!  I am glad for it.  I also enjoy helping others find their way toward better nutrition as well.  Almost every grocery shopping trip provides me an opportunity to do just that.

So, when I saw that the Harvard School of Public Health had released their version of the government’s “MyPlate” (an answer to the challenging question of what and how much to eat from the food pyramid), I was pleasantly surprised by their approach.  An actual “plate” with portion sizes and suggestions for each food group!  Finally, someone has clearly stated that potatoes/french fries do not count in the vegetable group (something I have been trying to get my oldest child to understand ever since setting foot in school)!  There are some other tips that they provided for balancing nutrition as well. According to Harvard’s website, the Healthy Eating Plate shows consumers a generally healthy way to assemble a meal:

• get plenty of produce
• choose whole grains
• choose healthy sources of protein
• use healthy oils
• drink water or other beverages that don’t contain sugar.
• It also suggests limiting consumption of refined grains, potatoes, sweets, sugary beverages, red meat, processed meats, and going easy on milk and juice.

I also liked this approach as it is a diagram that I can talk with my kids about.  They see things clearly in pictures at times and this was a good tool to help them look at their own plates and assess how well they are eating.  It helps them see that focusing on meats, grains and cheese is not a wise way to eat at every meal.  We even talk about it as we put toppings on our pizza, which helps them reach for things like red or green peppers, mushrooms, arugula and pineapple!  Whether or not we are focused on gluten free foods, there is a lot we all can do to eat better at every meal.  Your bodies will thank you for it!  Do you have any thoughts about the Healthy Eating Plate?  Share them with us!