MyPlate is the current nutrition guide published by the United States Department of Agriculture's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion and serves as a recommendation based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. It replaced the USDA's MyPyramid guide on June 2, 2011, ending 19 years of USDA food pyramid diagrams. MyPlate is displayed on food packaging and used in nutrition education in the United States.
MyPlate is a reminder to find your healthy eating style and build it throughout your lifetime. It offers ideas and tips to help you create an eating style that meets your individual needs and can improve your health. MyPlate offers recipes, tips for eating healthy on a budget, and many other helpful resources.
Understanding the MyPlate Diagram
The graphic depicts a place setting with a plate and glass divided into five food groups that are recommended parts of a healthy diet. This dietary recommendation combines an organized amount of fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy. It is designed as a guideline for Americans to base their plate around in order to make educated food choices.
"Make half your plate fruits and vegetables" is one of the main recommendations presented through MyPlate's design. MyPlate focuses primarily on the addition of fruits and vegetables into a diet due to the nutritional benefits associated with these food groups. This nutritional recommendation suggests including a variety of both of these food groups in order to gain maximum levels of nutrients.
Personalized Planning with the MyPlate Plan
The MyPlate Plan is a personalized food plan based on your age, sex, height, weight, and physical activity level. It helps you figure out how many calories you need each day and shows you food group targets-what and how much to eat within your calorie allowance. You can use the Nutrition Facts label to monitor calories and nutrients in packaged foods and drinks and more often choose items higher in dietary fiber, vitamin D, calcium, iron, and potassium and lower in saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars.
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A Brief History of USDA Dietary Guidelines
MyPlate is the latest nutrition guide from the USDA. The USDA's first dietary guidelines were published in 1894 by Wilbur Olin Atwater as a farmers' bulletin. Since then, the USDA has provided a variety of nutrition guides for the public, including the Basic 7 (1943-1956), the Basic Four (1956-1992), the Food Guide Pyramid (1992-2005), and MyPyramid (2005-2013). Many other governments and organizations have created nutrition guides.
First Lady Michelle Obama and the Let’s Move! Initiative
In unveiling MyPlate, First Lady Michelle Obama said, "Parents don't have the time to measure out exactly three ounces of chicken or to look up how much rice or broccoli is in a serving. … But we do have time to take a look at our kids' plates. … And as long as they're eating proper portions, as long as half of their meal is fruits and vegetables alongside their lean proteins, whole grains and low-fat dairy, then we're good."
Michelle Obama's and her Let’sMove! Initiative have targeted the MyPlate icon as a positive nutritional guideline to help reduce national obesity trends. The Let’sMove Initiative has the main goal of creating a healthy life for children in order to produce a healthier population in the future.
Partnerships and Promotion
The USDA has created partnerships with a number of organizations to help promote the messages of MyPlate and spread the reach as far and wide as possible. These partners consist of companies and organizations national in scope and reach that have agreed to "promote nutrition content in the context of the entirety of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans." These companies most follow the mission stated by the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion and participate in sessions that are focused on nutritional planning techniques.
Reception and Criticism of MyPlate
MyPlate was widely received as an improvement on the previous MyPyramid icon, which had been criticized as too abstract and confusing. The 50-percent emphasis on fruits and vegetables, as well as the simplicity and understandability of the plate image, were particularly praised. The Food Pyramid was not a strong guideline considering many individuals struggled incorporating it into their daily life.
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Although MyPlate implements might contain dietary guidelines that are nutritionally beneficial, it has occasional disadvantages. Some critics said the protein section is unnecessary, given that protein is available from other food groups, and Americans on average already eat enough; however, meat would not fit in any of the other food groups. The dairy section was criticized by some as similarly dispensable.
The Harvard Healthy Eating Plate as an Alternative
The Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) released their own adjusted and more detailed version of MyPlate, called the Harvard Healthy Eating Pyramid, in response. The Healthy Eating Pyramid was suggested as an alternative to MyPlate that is more up-to-date with scientific nutritional findings. Department of Agriculture pyramids, MyPlate mixes science with the influence of powerful agricultural interests, which is not the recipe for healthy eating. The Harvard plate also contains a recommendation for physical activity which MyPlate tends to leave out. Harvard Medical School also pushes for the inclusion of water in their nutritional guidelines. MyPlate recommends the consumption of milk or some form of dairy without explicitly encouraging drinking water.
Global Reach of MyPlate
Starting in 2021, the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion has broadened its reach to target more of the general population rather than keeping its focus audience in America. The MyPlate icon has been translated into eighteen different languages in order to encourage the eating habits of individuals around the world. There are now icons and informational sheets in a variety of Asian languages as well as Spanish. MiPlato is a version of the MyPlate guidelines that is translated in order to be understood by a broader range of the population. This along with the broadening of MyPlate's social media accounts has expanded the MyPlate influence across many platforms.
The Balanced Plate: A Visual Framework
The balanced plate provides a visual framework for the types of foods you should aim to include in your diet each day. These foods are high in heart-healthy fibers, lean proteins, and a variety of vitamins and minerals while low in sodium, saturated fats, and added sugars to keep you feeling great and maintaining a healthy weight long-term. The best part about this plate? You get to choose which foods you want to eat from each category, and there are endless combinations.
Tips for a Healthy Plate
- Eat the rainbow: Fruits and vegetables come in a variety of bright colors-the greater the variety of colors on your plate, the wider the array of vitamins and minerals you get.
- Fresh, frozen, dried, or canned?: All can be part of a healthy diet! Just keep an eye out for added sugars and sodium listed on the nutrition label.
- How much?: Three or more servings of veggies per day. One serving equals one cup. Two servings of fruit per day. One serving equals one cup.
- Go whole: Whole grains like brown rice, oatmeal, quinoa, popcorn, and whole wheat products contain more protein, vitamins, minerals, and fiber than refined grains to reduce your risk of heart and bowel diseases and better manage your weight.
- What about starches?: Starchy vegetables like potatoes, peas, and corn can all be part of a healthy diet! Just keep an eye on portion size and avoid eating them fried.
- How much?: Six to eight servings per day. 1 serving = 1 oz.
- Think lean to grow strong: Protein keeps your skin, muscles, and bones healthy, but choosing lower fat options like chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, and low-fat dairy products will also help keep your heart healthy.
- Don't forget plant powerhouses: Plant-based proteins such as beans, lentils, edamame, tofu, nuts, seeds, and nut butters provide the added benefit of fiber, so be sure to give these a try as well!
- How much? Five to six ounces per day. 1 oz. = 1 oz. cooked meats; 1 egg; ¼ cup beans; 1 tbsp. nut butter; ½ oz. nuts/seeds.
Duenas' Diagram for a Healthy Meal
Duenas shows a diagram delineating what foods are part of a healthy meal and what the portions should be like. In the diagram it shows that 25% of the plate should contain lean protein, 25% should be whole grains, and 50% should be vegetables. The diagram also includes a half cup of fruit and water on the side. Duenas explains that half of the plate is occupied by vegetables because vegetables have a lot of fiber, vitamins, and minerals, which help keep you full. Duenas mentions that although the diagram says whole grains, it can be any carbohydrate such as potatoes, pasta, or bread. She says that cutting down on carbohydrates to the amount shown in the diagram usually helps people lose weight. altogether,ains that carbs are fuel, they are what the body uses for energy, so you cannot skip out on them altogether; but the amount you should be having depends on how much you exercise.
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Healthy Snacking
So, we know what our meals should look like, but what about when you get hungry in between meals? Duenas says that snacking can get us into trouble because people tend to reach for something a little sweeter in between meals. Duenas defines healthy snacks as having complex carbohydrates with fiber. These carbohydrates should be paired with a protein or a healthy fat. Duenas says that this is the best option for snacks because the carbohydrates are turned into energy immediately and paired with a healthy fat or protein, it stays in the digestive system for longer.
The Healthy Eating Plate: A Closer Look
The Healthy Eating Plate was created by Harvard Health Publishing and nutrition experts at the Harvard School of Public Health. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Service.
Key Components of the Healthy Eating Plate
- Healthy Oils: Use healthy oils (like olive and canola oil) for cooking, on salad, and at the table. Limit butter. Choose healthy vegetable oils like olive, canola, soy, corn, sunflower, peanut, and others, and avoid partially hydrogenated oils, which contain unhealthy trans fats. The Healthy Eating Plate encourages consumers to use healthy oils, and it does not set a maximum on the percentage of calories people should get each day from healthy sources of fat.
- Water, Coffee, and Tea: Drink water, tea, or coffee (with little or no sugar). Limit milk/dairy (1-2 servings/day) and juice (1 small glass/day).
- Vegetables: The more veggies - and the greater the variety - the better.
- Whole Grains: Eat a variety of whole grains (like whole-wheat bread, whole-grain pasta, and brown rice).
- Protein Power: Fish, poultry, beans, and nuts are all healthy, versatile protein sources-they can be mixed into salads, and pair well with vegetables on a plate.
The Healthy Eating Plate does not define a certain number of calories or servings per day from each food group. The relative section sizes suggest approximate relative proportions of each of the food groups to include on a healthy plate.
The Importance of a Food-Health Connection
Scientific evidence has shown that what you eat can reduce your risk for developing heart disease and diabetes, and ward off some forms of cancer, hypertension and osteoporosis. The special health report provides the latest thinking on the food-health connection and expert guidance on the best foods to incorporate into your diet for optimal health. The book features eye-opening new research on the healthiest carbohydrates, fats, and proteins; an explanation of why weight control is still the single most important factor for long-term health; and menu plans and brand-new recipes that make it even easier to reinvent your diet.
How the Healthy Eating Plate Stacks Up
To see how well the principles embodied in the Healthy Eating Pyramid stacked up against the government’s advice, researchers at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health created an Alternate Healthy Eating Index with a scoring system similar to the USDA’s index. Men who scored highest on the USDA’s original Healthy Eating Index (meaning their diets most closely followed federal recommendations) reduced their overall risk of developing heart disease, cancer, or other chronic disease by 11% over 8 to 12 years of follow-up compared to those who scored lowest. Women who most closely followed the government’s recommendations were only 3% less likely to have developed a chronic disease.
In comparison, scores on the Alternate Healthy Eating Index did appear to correlate more closely with better health in both sexes. Men with high scores (those whose diets most closely followed the Healthy Eating Pyramid guidelines) were 20% less likely to have developed a major chronic disease than those with low scores. Women with high scores lowered their overall risk by 11%.
A study that tracked 7,319 British civil servants for 18 years found that men and women with the highest scores on the Alternate Healthy Eating Index had a 25% lower risk of dying from any cause, and a 42% lower risk of dying from heart disease, than people with the lowest scores. Another observational study in 93,676 post-menopausal women found that following a Healthy Eating Pyramid-style diet (as measured by adherence to the Alternative Healthy Eating Index) was superior to following a low-fat diet at lowering cardiovascular disease and heart failure risk.