Finding Balance
Need to Know
Issue No. 6: Food, Nutrition, and Access in Our Communities
Words - María Teresa Alzuru
Illustration - Alexandra Folino
If you were in school in the United States before 2005, you were likely taught about the food pyramid. Today, the Department of Agriculture uses a plate instead of a pyramid to show how much of each food group you should consume each day. While the visual of the plate is intended to make proportions clearer, you may still have a lot of questions about what specific foods should go in each group. What counts as a grain? Are all proteins made equal? Are potatoes considered vegetables? What if I have special dietary needs or restrictions?
VEGETABLES: Emphasis on the leafy greens!
Fats & Oils: Eat in moderation and prioritize plant-based options.
Grains & starches: Aim for whole grain!
Fruit: Prioritize whole fruits!
dairy:
Eat in moderation.
Protein: Whether animal or plant-based, variety is key.
General guidelines to help you to help you find a healthy balance in your daily diet:
Plant-based diets are healthiest.
Aiming to have about half of your meals include non-starchy vegetables and fruits is a good strategy.
Leafy greens and vegetables such as kale, chard, collard greens, broccoli, and spinach are always a good option.
Cauliflower, mushrooms, eggplant, peppers, and zucchini are also great non-starchy vegetable options.
Starchy vegetables like potatoes, corn, and cassava are still packed with nutrients but should be consumed in moderation.
The way you consume fruits matters.
Eating fruits with skin (when edible) is the best way to get all the good nutrients fruits have to offer—such as fiber—rather than just the natural sugars.
Smoothies that blend the whole fruit with skin are better options than fruit juices that preserve only the sugars, and often add more.
Fats and oils: Eat in moderation.
Try to stick to plant-based options, like olive oil and balsamic vinegar on a salad instead of a bottled ranch dressing that may have a lot of saturated fat.
Limit grains and starches.
These should make up the remaining quarter of your meal and there are many options for how to get your starches and grains in. Think: rice, noodles, potatoes, couscous, quinoa, corn, oats, squash, plantains, and so on.
It’s important to note that whole grains are much better for you than refined grains. This means choosing whole wheat pasta and bread or brown rice over the white varieties.
Whole foods are best.
One good way to understand what a whole food is, is to consider whether your great-great-grandmother would recognize it. She would recognize a strawberry, but how about a Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tart?
Try grilled corn on the cob or potato wedges as a side item at the cookout over tortilla or potato chips.
Dairy, take it or leave it.
Dairy often contains protein and can also have a higher fat content and, thus, is recommended for growing children. For adults, dairy is a group to eat in moderation but is neither essential nor something to avoid.
Diversify your proteins.
Did you know that plants can have protein too? When choosing your source of protein, your options range from beans and nuts to the more traditional fish, poultry, and meat. The protein-rich part of your meal should be about a quarter of the total meal.
Beans are a terrific source of protein that also have a lot of nutritious fiber. They’re also usually cheaper than fish or meat products.
Try to mix up the type of proteins you eat throughout the week.
Try to limit the amount of red meat you eat, and avoid eating processed deli meats daily as they are linked to higher rates of cancer.
Avoid food monotony.
You’re more likely to find a good balance with a wide variety of foods in your diet. Additionally, the more types of foods you eat, the more you contribute to the overall biodiversity of our crops and livestock, which leads to a healthier earth.
Get involved with the food you eat.
This can mean cooking more of your own food, picking out produce at a farmer’s market, or even starting your own garden. This will help you know more about what you’re consuming and keep a check on any odd ingredients added in.
Eat real food.
When choosing packaged items, look for things with fewer ingredients and avoid long lists of ingredients you can’t pronounce. This means they will be less processed and healthier for you.
Fresh food above all.
When shopping for food, fresh options are your best bet. Your next healthiest option is frozen food, which like fresh foods do not have preservatives. The last—often most affordable—option is canned foods that typically have preservatives added and that can make them less healthy than you think. When you can, opt for fresh or frozen equivalents.
These rules can be used to guide you as you make your grocery list or plan meals each week, with the goal of finding a healthy balance daily. However, these guidelines are general and may not apply to everyone. For example, there are some key adjustments you can make to your diet to help manage some of the most common health conditions in the United States, such as switching to low sodium options to help lower high blood pressure. If you have hypertension, diabetes, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome, talk to your healthcare provider or Registered Dietitian about changes in your diet that can increase your quality of life.
