In addition to the federal government, other groups and individuals have recommended what people should eat to be healthy.
For more than 99% of our history we lived as hunters and gatherers trying desperately to avoid starvation. In a very short time period, the dinner tables have turned and modern society finds itself surrounded by calories from many different sources...
For more than 99% of our history we lived as hunters and gatherers trying desperately to avoid starvation. In a very short time period, the dinner tables have turned and modern society finds itself surrounded by calories from many different sources...
This food choice is enviable and yet it has led to troubling consequences for many of us. There are now more overfed than underfed people in the world and, due to a myriad of societal forces, a significant number of people are both overfed and undernourished.
Food guidance systems have been developed by various groups in an effort to help us optimize our food selection for health and longevity. In addition to the federal government’s nutrition guidelines that I mentioned in the March 6 MyPlate blog post, other groups have chimed in on food guidance to lower heart disease risk and premature death.
Harvard School of Public Health’s Department of Nutrition has taken issue over the years with scientific shortcomings in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) food guidance models. In response to the 2005 USDA food pyramid, Harvard's Nutrition Source created the Healthy Eating Pyramid based on current science. Without the political pressures underlying government nutrition recommendations or the influence of food businesses and organizations on consumer nutrition messages, their Healthy Eating Pyramid claims to provide unbiased food guidance. Its foundation is daily exercise and weight control and at the pyramid's tip it recommends that these items be used sparingly: red meat, processed meat, butter, refined grains (i.e., white rice, bread, and pasta), potatoes, sugary drinks, sweets, and salt.
While acknowledging that MyPlate is an improvement over MyPyramid, Harvard’s Nutrition Source claimed it didn’t go far enough to help people make the healthiest choices. Walter Willett of Harvard's Department of Nutrition said that beef and dairy industries once again influenced the 2010 Dietary Guidelines. To reduce solid fat intake he feels that messages should clearly state the need to limit consumption of red meat, cheese, ice cream, and other high-fat products.
Their Healthy Eating Plate addresses the shortcomings in the USDA’s MyPlate and offers these messages about both dietary quantity and quality:
Fill half of your plate with colorful vegetables and fruits
Potatoes and French fries don’t count as vegetables
Save a quarter of your plate for whole grains—not just any grains
The less processed the whole grains, the better, for example: steel cut oats instead of instant oatmeal
Pick a healthy source of protein to fill one quarter of your plate
Some protein sources (fish, chicken, beans, nuts) are healthier than others (red and processed meat)
Enjoy healthy fats
Use healthy oils, like olive and canola, in cooking, on salads, and at the table
Limit butter, and avoid unhealthy trans fats
Drink water, coffee or tea
Limit milk and dairy products to one to two servings per day and limit juice to a small glass per day
Skip the sugary drinks
Stay active
Along with consuming modest healthy food portions, being active is half of the secret to weight control
Harvard's Nutrition Source isn't the only group offering food guidance. The University of Michigan Integrative Medicine's 2010 Healing Foods Pyramid emphasizes:
Healing foods
Consume foods known to contribute to your health
Plant-based choices
Choose minimally processed plant foods that are known for their health benefits
Variety and balance
Fill your plate with whole grains, healthy fats, and a colorful array of fruits and vegetables every day
Support of a healthful environment
Select foods that have been produced without harming our planet
Mindful eating
Truly savor, enjoy, and focus on what you eat
If I haven't caused your head to spin yet with all of these nutrition recommendations, there are even more including Dr. Weil's anti-inflamatory pyramid.
Nutrition authors have also attempted to summarize food guidance into as few words as possible. What to Eat author and New York University Nutrition professor, Marion Nestle sums up the basic principles of a healthy diet in these ten words:
Eat less, move more, eat lots of fruits and vegetables
She adds this five-word qualifier:
Go easy on junk food
In Defense of Food author, Michael Pollan states even more succinctly that we should:
Eat food, not too much, mostly plants
By "eat food" he is referring to whole fresh foods rather than processed food products. I like the fact that these short phrases don't reduce food into nutrient components (i.e., a "reductionist" approach to healthy eating). For example, instead of reducing the benefits of eating a tomato to its lycopene, eating a whole tomato may offer more to our health and longevity than the sum of its parts.
We evolved eating mainly whole grains, leaves and roots, fruits, nuts, and berries. Animal protein was eaten occasionally. Just as we are designed to move like our evolutionary ancestors, our bodies continue to thrive on their basic plant-based diet.
Be Well,
Mary
P.S. Please ignore the text box below; your comments are always welcome here.
Food guidance systems have been developed by various groups in an effort to help us optimize our food selection for health and longevity. In addition to the federal government’s nutrition guidelines that I mentioned in the March 6 MyPlate blog post, other groups have chimed in on food guidance to lower heart disease risk and premature death.
Harvard School of Public Health’s Department of Nutrition has taken issue over the years with scientific shortcomings in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) food guidance models. In response to the 2005 USDA food pyramid, Harvard's Nutrition Source created the Healthy Eating Pyramid based on current science. Without the political pressures underlying government nutrition recommendations or the influence of food businesses and organizations on consumer nutrition messages, their Healthy Eating Pyramid claims to provide unbiased food guidance. Its foundation is daily exercise and weight control and at the pyramid's tip it recommends that these items be used sparingly: red meat, processed meat, butter, refined grains (i.e., white rice, bread, and pasta), potatoes, sugary drinks, sweets, and salt.
While acknowledging that MyPlate is an improvement over MyPyramid, Harvard’s Nutrition Source claimed it didn’t go far enough to help people make the healthiest choices. Walter Willett of Harvard's Department of Nutrition said that beef and dairy industries once again influenced the 2010 Dietary Guidelines. To reduce solid fat intake he feels that messages should clearly state the need to limit consumption of red meat, cheese, ice cream, and other high-fat products.
Their Healthy Eating Plate addresses the shortcomings in the USDA’s MyPlate and offers these messages about both dietary quantity and quality:
Fill half of your plate with colorful vegetables and fruits
Potatoes and French fries don’t count as vegetables
Save a quarter of your plate for whole grains—not just any grains
The less processed the whole grains, the better, for example: steel cut oats instead of instant oatmeal
Pick a healthy source of protein to fill one quarter of your plate
Some protein sources (fish, chicken, beans, nuts) are healthier than others (red and processed meat)
Enjoy healthy fats
Use healthy oils, like olive and canola, in cooking, on salads, and at the table
Limit butter, and avoid unhealthy trans fats
Drink water, coffee or tea
Limit milk and dairy products to one to two servings per day and limit juice to a small glass per day
Skip the sugary drinks
Stay active
Along with consuming modest healthy food portions, being active is half of the secret to weight control
Harvard's Nutrition Source isn't the only group offering food guidance. The University of Michigan Integrative Medicine's 2010 Healing Foods Pyramid emphasizes:
Healing foods
Consume foods known to contribute to your health
Plant-based choices
Choose minimally processed plant foods that are known for their health benefits
Variety and balance
Fill your plate with whole grains, healthy fats, and a colorful array of fruits and vegetables every day
Support of a healthful environment
Select foods that have been produced without harming our planet
Mindful eating
Truly savor, enjoy, and focus on what you eat
If I haven't caused your head to spin yet with all of these nutrition recommendations, there are even more including Dr. Weil's anti-inflamatory pyramid.
Nutrition authors have also attempted to summarize food guidance into as few words as possible. What to Eat author and New York University Nutrition professor, Marion Nestle sums up the basic principles of a healthy diet in these ten words:
Eat less, move more, eat lots of fruits and vegetables
She adds this five-word qualifier:
Go easy on junk food
In Defense of Food author, Michael Pollan states even more succinctly that we should:
Eat food, not too much, mostly plants
By "eat food" he is referring to whole fresh foods rather than processed food products. I like the fact that these short phrases don't reduce food into nutrient components (i.e., a "reductionist" approach to healthy eating). For example, instead of reducing the benefits of eating a tomato to its lycopene, eating a whole tomato may offer more to our health and longevity than the sum of its parts.
We evolved eating mainly whole grains, leaves and roots, fruits, nuts, and berries. Animal protein was eaten occasionally. Just as we are designed to move like our evolutionary ancestors, our bodies continue to thrive on their basic plant-based diet.
Be Well,
Mary
P.S. Please ignore the text box below; your comments are always welcome here.
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