A Healthy Plate
Do you know what a ‘Healthy Plate’ is? A healthy plate contains all the important nutrients your body needs to thrive. If you can achieve a ‘Healthy Plate’ for most of your meals… not only will you lose weight, but you will feel fantastic too.
Do you remember the Food Pyramid?
After the study run by Ancel Keys was published, the ADA (American Dietetic Association) recommended the Food Pyramid as the basis for a healthy diet. The daily servings recommended by the ADA were:
- Carbohydrates: 6-11 servings
- Fruit: 2-4 servings
- Vegetables: 3-5 servings
- Proteins (meat, chicken, fish, eggs, pulses): 2-3 servings
- Dairy: 2-3 servings
- Fats and oils: Use sparingly
Guess what happened? People followed this advice and started eating less fat and more carbohydrates. And, you know the rest… diabetes rates sky-rocketed, obesity rates went through the roof, millions of people have struggled with lifestyle diseases like heart disease, strokes, cancer and dementia.
Recent research has shown that eating more fat leads to weight loss when you limit your intake of carbohydrates.
Low-carbohydrate high-fat diets also have unexpected benefits on blood sugar regulation, inflammation in the blood stream, and even cholesterol.
Why?
Carbohydrates, especially simple carbohydrates like sugars and refined grains release energy rapidly which raises blood sugar quickly and dramatically. This stimulates numerous hormone responses, particularly insulin. And you know by now… Insulin is the hormone that makes you feel sluggish, heavy, and hungry. And it’s the hormone that encourages your body to store fat.
So, if we control the carbs and feed our bodies with healthful fats instead, we will improve our blood sugars, lose weight, and feel… AMAZING!
Let’s do a quick recap on nutrient effects on blood glucose:
Carbohydrates (regardless of the type of carbohydrate) are digested to sugar molecules which raise blood sugar levels and stimulate insulin release.
Proteins, when eaten in reasonable amounts are digested to amino acids and have no effect on blood glucose or insulin levels. Only when excessive protein is eaten, will amino acids be converted to glucose, and then stored as fat.
Fats are digested and absorbed as fatty acids which do not affect blood glucose or insulin secretion.
People always ask me: ‘Doc, don’t we NEED to eat carbohydrates?’
Let’s consider your body composition for a moment. Your body is made of:
- Water – approximately 60-70%
- Protein – approximately 20%
- Fat – highly variable, but the minimum fat percentage in men is approximately 4%, and in women 12%
- Minerals – mainly in the bones, approximately 6%
- Carbohydrates – as either glucose or glycogen, approximately 1-2%
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It is true that your brain prefers glucose as its energy source. But you can manufacture glucose from both fats and protein.
So, you do NOT need to eat carbohydrates.
It is impossible to meet the needs of your body for other nutrients like vitamins and minerals without eating some carbohydrates in the form of vegetables and fruit.
Your brain loves glucose. It uses about 5g of glucose every hour just to keep you alive (maintaining your breathing, body temperature, blood pressure, heartbeat etc). It’s glucose consumption increases when doing more complex tasks like working or moving around or studying.
So, if we assume you need to meet the needs of your brain for glucose, then you could restrict your carbohydrate intake to 120g per 24 hours.
Your brain has the ability to switch from using glucose for energy to using ketone bodies. Ketones are formed when insulin levels are very low, which triggers fat breakdown. Ketones can cross into the brain and nerve cells can metabolise ketones for energy.
You would probably have heard of ‘ketosis’ or ‘ketogenic’ or ‘keto’ diets. These terms are derived from the word ‘ketones’ and refer to the state in which ketones are preferentially being used for fuel.
There is growing evidence that ketogenic diets can be used as medical treatments or as adjunct therapy for many health conditions including:
- Diabetes
- Cancer
- Epilepsy
- ADHD
- Autism
- Parkinson’s
- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
- Irritable bowel disease
- Fatty liver disease
In my experience, it is quite hard for people to follow a diet that keeps them in ketosis all the time. You really have to limit your carbs, and eat low-carb vegetables, proteins and fats only. For most people, this is too restrictive to be sustainable.
So, what I generally propose instead is a model based on low-carbohydrate intake (‘smart carbs’ in small amounts), higher fat intake and essentially unrestricted vegetables, combined with other lifestyle changes that mean you will often find yourself in ketosis a lot, but not all the time.
The Healthy Plate replaces the Food Pyramid
Instead of thinking of foods in a pyramid which implies a hierarchy of some foods being superior to others, I present the Healthy Plate model which I find more practical. It also relates directly to your body composition and makes logical sense to structure your meals.
If you think of your plate or bowl as a circle, divide it into 2 halves and completely fill the one half with vegetables. Divide the other half in half and fill one section with protein-based foods +/- dairy. Divide the remaining quarter of your plate in half and fill one section with healthy fats and the remaining eighth of your plate can be occupied by ‘smart carbs’.
The final breakdown will be:
- Vegetables: +/- 50%
- Protein-based foods: +/- 25%
- Healthy fats: +/- 10-15%
- Smart carbs: +/- 10-15%
This balance of food groups will provide all the essential nutrients your body needs to function optimally. You will not need to take vitamin or mineral supplements. Your blood glucose levels will automatically reduce because you are restricting your carbohydrates and including more glucose-neutral foods.
It’s quite flexible, in that you can be creative with the individual components in each section. There is no calorie-counting or weighing.
The focus is on proportions of nutrients rather than quantities. If you eat more vegetables, proteins and fats, you will feel satisfied sooner and you will naturally eat healthier portions.
I understand that sometimes it is challenging to structure every meal you eat in this way, particularly if you are eating out or on holiday. But if you think of the Healthy Plate model as a guideline for the composition of your overall food intake, then you can work around these occasions. Perhaps you have one meal where you eat a hearty serving of pasta… then at your next meal focus on vegetables protein to bring your daily intake into a better balance.
Remember, it’s the PROPORTIONS that matter.
The first step to achieving a ‘Healthy Plate’ is to ADD MORE FRESH VEGETABLES at each meal. Try and cover 50% of your plate with veggies and you will be well on your way to having a ‘Healthy Plate’ and feeling great!.
Next, make sure you GET ENOUGH PROTEIN. About 25% of what you eat each day should be protein. Fish, chicken, eggs, meat and dairy products are high in protein and good sources of vitamin B12. Plant-based proteins like tofu, edamame beans, lentils, dried beans and pulses, and quinoa are rich in minerals and healthy fibre.
Also, be sure to INCLUDE SOME HEALTHY FATS: Olive oil, nuts and seeds, avocado, coconut and dark chocolate are all great sources of fat that keep you feeling fuller for longer and help you absorb certain vitamins (like vitamin A, D, K and E).
By this time, your plate will almost be full and there will only be space for some carbohydrates as a side-dish. CHOOSE YOUR CARBOHYDRATES WISELY. Grains like brown, wild or red rice, quinoa, bulgur wheat, oats, spelt are great because they contain added fibre, vitamins and minerals. Baby potatoes and sweet potatoes are better than their mature white family members because fibre content and nutrient content is higher and the way they affect your blood sugar will be less dramatic. Wholewheat or wholegrain bread is preferable to white bread. The same is true for wholewheat pasta. Think carefully about what additional benefit your body will get from the carbohydrates you add to your plate. And AVOID WHITE (refined) CARBOHYDRATES if possible.
By gradually implementing these steps:
- Adding more vegetables (and fruit)
- Including sufficient healthy protein
- Adding more healthy fats
- Including healthy carbohydrates in a smaller proportion
Your plate will become a ‘Healthy Plate’ and you will experience the benefits in how you look and feel.
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