Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

"New American Plate" Is A Balanced Diet

The New American Plate is a fresh approach to healthy eating devised by the American Institute for Cancer Research. It focuses on the proportion of plant-based to animal-based foods on your plate and on the portion sizes you eat. It wants to help you reduce your cancer risk as well as control your weight.

Look at your plate. How does the food on it affect your body's ability to fight disease? How does it affect your weight? Simply by looking, thinking and making a few adjustments you can eat both for weight management and long-term health.

First look at the proportion of food. Plant-based foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans should cover two-thirds (or more) of the plate. Meat, fish or poultry should cover one-third (or less).

This guideline reverses the traditional American plate and treats meat as a side dish or a condiment rather than the main ingredient. Prepare your favorite brown rice or grain mix and top it off with steamed green beans, carrots, yellow squash and two or three ounces of chicken, for example.

In a review of 247 studies on the link between vegetables and fruit and cancer prevention 78 percent showed that a plant-based diet helps to reduce cancer risk.

The next step is to look at the size of the portions on your plate. America is experiencing an obesity epidemic; 55% of us are overweight. At the same time portions on American plates have grown larger and larger. Visitors from other countries express amazement at the amounts of food heaped on our plates. Food outlets feature gigantic "value meals" and "super-sizes." Even table-service restaurants have swapped the traditional 10=-inch plate for a 12-inch plate.

Become familiar with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's standard serving sizes. A portion of cooked rice or vegetables, for example, is half a cup. A green salad or a glass of milk is one cup. A small apple or banana is one portion. If you find it hard to envision what a half-cup serving looks like on your plate, fill a measuring cup with the food and empty it onto a clean plate. Make a mental snapshot of how much of the plate is covered by this standard serving.

Now ask yourself how many of these standard servings go onto the plate you usually use. Portion size should depend on actual need. A person who sits at a desk all day needs only one cup of cereal (the standard serving size for most cereals). A person who runs five miles a day may need two or three.

If your weight is too high, reduce the number of standard servings in your regular portions. Do this gradually to avoid hunger pangs. Each small change adds up to a substantial difference over time. And think about portion size when you eat out. Once you suit your portion size to your needs you'll find it easier to maintain a healthy weight for life.

For more information about food and nutrition contact the Clark County Extension office, 246-2281.