According to the USDA, MyPlate became the US government’s
primary icon of food groups and recommended diet in June of 2011. MyPlate
replaced My Pyramid and the food pyramid concept in general. It is supposed to
provide a simple way to help people create healthy eating habits that are
“consistent with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans” (USDA, 2013) by
using the “visual cue” of the plate icon. I agree that the new icon of the
plate symbol is an advantage in practical application to building a meal, but I
find it lacking in some important information. There are a lot of changes and
not all of them are good, in my opinion.
First of all, one thing that seems to be an egregious
omission is the entire concept of fats and sugar from the My Plate picture. I
think we can all agree, after last week’s research, that consuming a healthy
quantity and quality of lipids is vitally important. Since 1979’s “Hassle-Free
Daily Food Guide,” Americans have been given information on how much fat or oil
was acceptable in our diet (USDA Center for Nutrition, 2011, June). Information
on fats was included on the 1992 Food Pyramid and the 2005 My Pyramid models,
both of which clearly demonstrated that fats and oils should be consumed in
small amounts. Annual statistics compiled by the US Centers for Disease Control
show that more Americans die from heart disease than anything else (US CDC,
2013). Strokes and Diabetes are also in the top ten. Since diet and the
consumption of lipids is a huge factor in these illnesses, it seems that
dietary reccomendations should provide more information on lipids, not less
(like the difference between LDLs and HDLs, which I myself didn’t even know
until last week).
Another thing that is missing from the MyPlate icon that was
included on the MyPyramid icon is the encouragement to exercise. The MyPyramid
stressed the importance of exercise by including a figure climbing the stairs
of the pyramid (USDA Center for Nutrition, 2011). Again, the importance of
exercise is mentioned on the website and the pamphlet, but it seems that the
message is demoted in importance when it gets removed from the icon.
These differences are just what I observed from the visual
icons. What’s different about the actual plans?
First of all, the MyPlate places less emphasis on grains,
while the Food Pyramid recommended grains as the largest food group. MyPlate
shows only ¼ of the plate for grains, emphasizing whole grains, and shows ½ the
plate dedicated to fruits and vegetables instead. This is a positive change
since many Americans were not getting enough fruits and vegetables (and fiber!)
(Anderson, 2009), and as we just learned, an overconsumption of grains can lead
to their storage in the body as fats after the saccharides are broken down. But
if consumers replace grains with too many starchy vegetables or fruits high in
sugar, they will risk the exact same situation.
Another change is the elimination of serving size
information. The food pyramid informed us how many servings of each type of
food to eat and what a serving size was defined as, whereas MyPlate doesn’t
show or talk about number or size of servings. Apparently, nutrition
professionals thought this was too confusing and recommended the changes, the
assumption being that if consumers eat from a plate nine inches in diameter and
don't make huge piles of food, then they are eating a healthy amount of food.
It is thought that eliminating serving sizes makes MyPlate simpler to implement
and understand, but I measured my “standard” dinner plate and it was 9 ¾
inches. The size of the plate is going to drastically affect the amount of food
being eaten, and consumers have to be vigilant in order to be accurate. This
seems confusing for a program whose goal was to reduce confusion.
The last change I will discuss is the use of the word
“Protien,” which is a nutrient, not an actual food group, and seems out of
place. Apparently, the USDA felt that enough people recognized what constitutes
protein and knew how to get it in their diets, whether it came from animal
sources such as beef or fish, or plant sources like legumes or nuts. The goal
was to create something simple that people could interpret according to their
own tastes and incorporating all sources.
Many people think MyPlate is an improvement over the
pyramids; nutrition experts like Registered Dietitian Becky Hand are thrilled.
She says. "If your dinner plate matches up with the four quadrants and one
circle, then you’ll have a great start to a balanced and nutrient-filled
meal!" (Hand, 2011). I think that the actual plan is great, and a huge
improvement (especially in the reduction of grains and increase in fruits and
vegetables), but the icon leaves much to be desired and leaves out too much
vital information. I understand that it must have been a huge challenge to come
up with a picture that represents the plan and is easy to understand, and I
think using a plate is a great idea, but I think they left out too much
important information. The effectiveness of the plan hinges on two crucial
factors: the size of the plate and the ability of people to get the complete
information from the internet (or library), which is a huge flaw in my opinion.
Oversimplifying what constitutes a balanced meal can lead
consumers to make poor choices. For example, let’s say someone chooses chicken
fried steak for their protein, mashed potatoes with gravy and corn for their
vegetable, marinated tomatoes for their fruit, whole wheat roll with butter for
the grain, drinks a glass of water and has ice cream for their dairy. Since the
MyPlate icon doesn’t address fats or sugar at all, the person might think this
is a healthy meal, but there is fat or oil in every single item. The potatoes
and corn have a high glycemic index and will convert to stored sugar. This
person would probably gain weight and be at risk of heart disease before long.
The MyPlate program and icon are supported and endorsed by
the American Heart Association and the American Dietetic Association (Hand,
2011) as well as the Journal of the American Medical Association (Mitka, 2011),
but Harvard University agrees with me. Harvard’s School of Public Health (HSPH) published its own “Healthy Eating
Plate” because, as their website states, the MyPlate program “still doesn’t go
far enough to show people how to make the healthiest choices” (HSPH, 2011). It
was no surprise to me to see that HSPH included information on how to use fats
and oils, lowered the amount of fruit and raised the amount of vegetables,
addressed excluding potatoes and French fries, defined healthy protein,
limiting sugar, processed meats, dairy, and sugary drinks. They completely
eclipsed the USDA and created a plate-based icon that actually makes sense, and
it’s extremely simple to understand as well as being easy to implement. You
don’t even need a computer to access extra information, and it clearly states
“stay active” at the bottom. Faculty at HSPH even went so far as to “fix” the
flaws in the now out-dated Food Pyramid so that people who are used to the old
familiar model can receive the most correct information in a format with which
they can identify. Instead of overwhelming consumers with a complicated
website, the Healthy Eating Plate and Pyramid comes with five “quick tips”:
stay active, eat a plant-based diet, pick healthy protein sources, make your
grains whole grains, drink water, coffee, or tea, and drink alcohol in
moderation, if at all (HSPH, 2011). This seems so simple, surely Americans
could all benefit from the HSPH version of a plate-based model.
Since this seems pretty obvious to me, I wondered if any
special interest groups had played a role in influencing the structure of
MyPlate. Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition and chair of
the Department of Nutrition at HSPH, said, “Unfortunately, like the earlier
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) pyramids, MyPlate mixes science with the
influence of powerful agricultural interests, which is not the recipe for
healthy eating. The Healthy Eating Plate is based on the best available
scientific evidence and provides consumers with the information they need to
make choices that can profoundly affect our health and well-being” (Datz,
2011). The food group that seems to be really overemphasized is dairy, and I
wasn’t the only one who noticed it. “Calcium is the primary justification for
the importance of dairy, but many green vegetables offer just as much calcium
as milk, and in a more absorbable form… If science and health were calling the
shots, then milk products would simply be absorbed into the protein category as
one of many ways to get your essential amino acids, or perhaps into a “calcium”
group that would also include dark-green leafy vegetables and fortified dairy
alternatives,” reported Ari Levaux in his criticism of MyPlate for a northern
Californian newspaper (Levaux, 2011). If our government is so beholden to
special interests as to deliver a dietary recommendation that doesn’t give
consumers the whole picture and clearly is not an unbiased approach to eating,
even while heart disease is the number one killer of our citizens, it does make
me fearful as to what else is being perverted by special interests and what
else we are not being told. If I’m just a college student and I can see the
inconsistencies, how do our leaders account for the limitations of MyPlate? I
feel bad for people who aren’t getting the opportunity to learn about things
such as the Harvard Healthy Eating Plate. In conclusion, I do not think MyPlate
is the “full meal deal” and as per usual, an educated consumer is the best
customer.
In the future, I plan to refer to the Healthy Eating Plate
in addition to the model I had been following. Up until now, I have been using
the food pyramid model designed by nutrition expert Dr. Joel Fuhrman, a doctor
who specializes in nutrition-based treatments for obesity and chronic disease
(I suffer from a chronic disease related to eating wheat, and Dr. Fuhrman's
diet was the first I found that did not feature grains as the most significant
food group) . He serves as Director of Research for the Nutritional Research
Foundation, and he is the authour of "Eat To Live", a book about
nutrition origianlly published in 2003. Dr. Fuhrman’s Nutritarian Pyramid is
based on nutrient-dense foods that have shown consistent health benefits in
scientific studies (see picture, attached)(Fuhrman, 2004). His concept vastly
predates both the USDA and the HSPH models (and was not influenced by
agribusiness, either). After they were relased, he updated his pyramid to reflect
the popular plate-based format. You can see that his version and the HSPH
version are quite similar with regard to plate content, although Dr. Fuhrman
does not specifically address exercise or drinks on his plate.
How do you think exploring this topic will change the way
you eat? Do you think any of this will have an impact on the average American?
Do you think you would try to educate your peers? How?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
USDA. (2013, January 30). My Plate. Retrieved January 30,
2013, from USDA National Agricultural Library website:
http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/dietary-guidance/myplatefood-pyramid-resources/ usda-myplate-food-pyramid-resources
USDA Center for Nutrition. (2011, June). A Brief History of
USDA Food Guides. Retrieved January 30, 2013, from Choose My Plate website: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/downloads/MyPlate/ABriefHistoryOfUSDAFoodGuides.pdf
US CDC (Ed.). (2013, January 11). Leading Causes of Death.
Retrieved January 30, 2013, from Centers For Disease Control and Prevention
Fast Stats website: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lcod.htm
Anderson, J., Baird, P., Davis, R., Jr., Ferreri, S.,
Knudtson, M., Koraym, A., . . . Williams, C. (2009). Health benefits of dietary
fiber. Retrieved January 30, 2013, from National Fiber Council website: http://www.nationalfibercouncil.org/pdfs/Fiber_Review_Paper.pdf
Hand, B., & Nichols, N. (2011, June). Out with the
Pyramid, In with the Plate. Retrieved January 30,2013, from Spark People
website: http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=425
Mitka, M. (2011, June 2). New Nutritional Icon Steps up to
the Plate. Retrieved January 30, 2013, from News@JAMA website: http://newsatjama.jama.com/2011/06/02/new-nutritional-icon-steps-up-to-the-plate/
Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)(Ed.). (2011). Healthy
Eating Plate and Healthy Eating Pyramid: The Bottom Line. Retrieved January 30,
2013, from Harvard University: Nutrition Source website: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/pyramid/
Datz, Todd. (2011, September 14). Harvard serves up its own
"Plate". Retrieved January 31, 2013, from Harvard Gazette website: http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/09/harvard-serves-up-its-own-plate/
Levaux, A. (2011, June 16). Got special interest? Retrieved
January 31, 2013, from North Coast Journal website: http://www.northcoastjournal.com/food/2011/06/16/got-special-interest/
Fuhrman, J. (2004). Dr. Fuhrman's Nutrition Pyramid.
Retrieved February 1, 2013, from How To Live For Life website: http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/foodpyramid.aspx
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