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Benefits of the Harvard Healthy Plate
The Harvard Plate Rule can help you lose weight and reach your desired number on the scale without dieting, fasting, or putting your body through any other harsh measures. You won’t have to restrict yourself, and at the same time, you’ll save both time and nerves.
The principles of the Healthy Plate were developed in 2011 by scientists from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. You can trust them—their nutrition recommendations, including those for weight loss, are based solely on evidence-based medicine.
The Harvard Healthy Plate method meets the body’s physiological needs and helps maintain health and fitness without strict diets or exhausting calorie counting.
Proper combinations and proportions of foods significantly reduce the chances of overeating.
This balanced diet plan has no restrictions and is suitable for men, women, and children. The principles apply to breakfast, lunch, and dinner alike.
How to Create a Harvard Plate
It’s quite simple and easy to follow, like all great ideas. When preparing your menu according to the Harvard Plate method, the key is to focus on two main factors: the types of foods and their percentage in relation to one another.
Healthy Plate Composition Guidelines
1/2 of the plate should be mostly filled with vegetables and some fruits. Fruits should make up about 25% of the total vegetable portion. Vegetable salads can be dressed with olive or flaxseed oil, lemon juice, or 1% fat kefir. This category also includes dishes made from baked or steamed vegetables.
1/4 of the plate should be filled with grains such as whole grain bread and side dishes (like rice, buckwheat, etc.). The weight of the cooked side dish should be around 130–180 grams, with a small amount of fat (butter, vegetable oil, sauces, or gravies).
1/4 of the plate should consist of animal and plant-based proteins: meat, fish, legumes, eggs, nuts, and seafood. A portion of protein (100–150 grams) can be accompanied by low-fat kefir, sugar-free yogurt, or unsweetened tea.
Essential Components of the Harvard Plate
Proteins – the body's universal building material
Best sources of animal protein: fish, poultry, organ meats, eggs, cheese, cottage cheese.
Best sources of plant protein: beans, nuts, lentils, tofu, quinoa, chickpeas, peas, mushrooms.
It's advisable to limit red meat and processed meat products (bacon, sausages, salami). Research has shown that a diet high in red meat or processed meat increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
Replacing some red meat with poultry and fish can have a positive effect on your health.
Low-Fat Doesn’t Mean Healthy Eating
In the 1960s, alarmed by the rise of fast food and the growing number of people suffering from obesity, American doctors placed the entire nation on a low-fat diet. Specialists misinterpreted the results of a large-scale study and urged Americans to avoid butter, fatty meats, egg yolks, and dairy products. Low-fat diets became a trend in the U.S. The consumption of fat dropped significantly, but the number of people suffering from obesity and cardiovascular diseases did not. In fact, the rate of type 2 diabetes sharply increased, and the culprit was the low-fat diet.
When fat is removed from foods, the flavor often suffers. To compensate, manufacturers add flavor enhancers like refined carbohydrates, stabilizers, and simple sugars. This increases the caloric content, adding even more sugar to an already carbohydrate-heavy diet, leading to the spike in type 2 diabetes.
Moreover, fats help us feel full after eating. Therefore, low fat diets can leave us feeling hungry and that can lead to overeating.
Therefore, healthy fats are an essential part of the Harvard plate.
"Good" fats are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Polyunsaturated fats contain omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which are essential for health, while monounsaturated fats provide omega-9. Salads and other dishes should be dressed with plant-based oils (corn, olive, sunflower, soy). The Harvard plate also includes nuts, seeds, and, of course, fish.
"Bad" fats, like trans fats, are found in store-bought baked goods such as cakes, cookies, and pies. These fats increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Fruits and vegetables are the basis of a healthy diet according to the Harvard Plate method
Vegetables and fruits are a natural source of vitamins and minerals. If a quarter of your daily diet consists of them, you will not need to take additional vitamin supplements. Vegetables will provide the body with vitamins and fiber, such important components for maintaining the health of the digestive system and the whole body, in general.
The Harvard Plate includes canned, fresh, and frozen foods, as well as vegetables included in other dishes, such as stewed with pasta.
The list of healthy vegetables and fruits is huge. Cucumbers, zucchini, raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes, persimmons, peaches, eggplants, greens, carrots, broccoli, bell peppers, cabbage, asparagus, celery, apples, and pumpkins - due to their off-season availability, most of these healthy products can be on our table all year round.
Is there a place for potatoes on the Harvard plate? Because of their high starch content, they raise blood glucose levels almost as quickly as sugar. For example, fried potatoes have a glycemic index of 95. But the reputation of everyone's favorite potato can be easily rehabilitated if you cook it in its "jacket" or bake it.
Whole grain products
Whole grain pasta, quinoa, buckwheat, oatmeal, barley, and whole grain bread are essential components of the Harvard plate. Unprocessed grains are more nutritious and more valuable than refined ones. The less processed the grain, the more beneficial it is for the body, as it has less effect on blood sugar and insulin levels. Whole grain products release their energy slowly, provide long-term satiety and help prevent overeating. Due to their high fiber content, they control cholesterol and insulin levels, and normalize blood pressure.
When shopping for groceries, pay attention to labels: “whole grain” or “whole grain flour” should be at the bomargin-bottom of the ingredient list.
Water and drinks
The healthiest drinks are water, tea, fruit drinks, coconut water, and vitamin compotes without sugar. Eliminate sweet carbonated drinks from your diet. In addition to being completely harmful to the body, they are of no nutritional value. These drinks are high in calories, cause a spike in glucose levels, damage your internal organs, and impairs the body's ability to heal itself, leading to chronic diseases.
Limiting sugar consumption
You shouldn't give up sugar completely, because it is a source of energy and nutrition for the brain. Doctors recommend limiting sugar consumption; healthy people need 25–30 grams per day. Is that a lot or a little? Currently, the average Russian consumes 107 grams of sugar per day. While the average American eats 160 grams of sugar per day, one and a half times more sugar.
Sample Harvard Plate Menu for the Day
Breakfast: 1/2 plate — tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers dressed with olive oil, greens; 1/4 plate — omelet or cottage cheese; 1/4 plate — whole grain toast.
Lunch: 1/2 plate — stewed vegetables (eggplant, Brussels sprouts, bell peppers, onions, carrots), apple; 1/4 plate — turkey; 1/4 plate — buckwheat.
Dinner: 1/2 plate — vegetables, greens; 1/4 plate — fish; 1/4 plate — rice.
About the size of a healthy Harvard plate
It is clear that the larger the plate, the more food can fit on it. Therefore, it is assumed that the average plate size is 28 cm in diameter. After a couple of months of such a diet, if necessary, you can replace it with a smaller diameter dish, 21-23 cm.
Why Eating the Healthy Harvard Plate Is Simple and Effective
When making up the Harvard Plate menu, you don’t limit yourself in products, you just need to keep the proportions. Want to eat a sandwich? No problem – put canned tuna on a piece of whole grain bread, add lettuce leaves, greens, tomatoes and cucumbers – tasty, satisfying and healthy.
Tired of chicken breast? A piece of baked pink salmon with avocado, olive oil and Korean carrots will add variety to your meal. And the obligatory use of products with different nutritional value and chemical composition makes your diet correct, varied and balanced.
By following the proportions of the Harvard Weight Loss Plate, you automatically adhere to scientific nutritional recommendations and do not overeat.
But if you have a hard physical job or you regularly train at least 3-4 times a week, you need to increase your protein intake, since 100 g does not cover your daily requirement.
Harvard Plate = Healthier Body
The correct ratio of products in your diet will have the most positive effect on your health. The work of the gastrointestinal tract improves, the body begins to cleanse itself, and external changes occur. The condition of the skin, hair, and nails improves.
Extra pounds go away. Moreover, unlike strict diets, losing weight with the Harvard Health Plate is a long-term solution.
And to finally consolidate the result, to tone the body, it's time to do fitness. Our online home workout platform already has a huge number of different workouts designed for specific goals: weight loss, strength, health, flexibility and many others. As well as educational healthy recipes that help establish a tasty and balanced diet.
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With great care, FitStars!
