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MyPlate
In order to replace the dated food pyramid concept,
the MyPlate was introduced in 2011. MyPlate was
introduced alongside the 2010 Dietary Guidelines
for Americans, and has further been updated with
the current 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for
Americans.
By following MyPlate, you should be able to:
• “Focus on variety, amount, and nutrition.”1
• “Choose foods and beverages with less
saturate fat, sodium, and added sugars.”1
• “Start with small changes to build healthier
eating styles.”1
• “Support healthy eating for everyone.”1
When choosing a healthy eating lifestyle, you
should consider several factors in your life. Whether
it be your age, taste, or culture, you should choose
an eating style that is consistently achievable so that
you can improve and maintain your health.
MyPlate builds upon the concept of diet
personalization that MyPyramid from 2005
emphasized, while also adding an emphasis on how
balancing each food group can contribute to a
healthy meal.
Goals of MyPlate
MyPlate serves as a reminder to find a healthy diet
that is right for you and your lifestyle so that you
can maintain it throughout your lifetime.
Focus on Variety, Amount, and Nutrition:
Choose your foods and beverages from all of the
five food groups. Having the right balance of fruits,
vegetables, grains, proteins, and dairy will help you
reach your daily energy and nutrient needs. How
much you eat should be based on your age, sex,
height, weight, and physical activity level. By
focusing on the variety, amount, and nutrition of
your food choices, you can avoid being overweight
and obese, as well as reduce risk factors for heart
disease, diabetes, and cancer.
Reduce Saturated Fat, Sodium, and Added
Sugars: Be aware of these three things when
inspecting a nutrition label or following a recipe.
Added sugars and saturated fats can significantly
increase your daily caloric intake and make it harder
to eat healthy. Reducing those will help you work
towards and maintain a healthy body weight. In
addition, reducing your sodium intake can reduce
the risk of high blood pressure.
Make Small Changes: When transitioning to a
healthy diet, it is often difficult to stay on track if
you are making drastic changes to our eating
lifestyle. Going from pizza, cheeseburgers, and soda
every day, to eating whole wheat, turkey
sandwiches with yogurt and a glass of water can be
quite difficult. When transitioning to MyPlate, you
are encouraged to make small changes to your diet
that get you closer and closer to a healthy eating
lifestyle. Start by making half of your grains healthy
whole grains, switch from whole-fat milk to low-fat
or fat free milk, and start varying your proteins.
Making these small changes and setting goals will
keep you encouraged and help you reach your
healthy lifestyle.
Support Healthy Eating for Everyone: Making
healthy choices for you will influence those around
you. Promoting healthy lifestyles for ourselves and
other will increase the well-being of our
communities.
Putting Together Your Plate
When you are putting together a meal, you should
follow the concepts of MyPlate so that you can have
a healthy balance of each food group and your
caloric intake. You can build a personal MyPlate
Checklist to help you reach your energy and
nutrition needs at:
https://www.choosemyplate.gov/MyPlate-DailyChecklist
Food Groups
Each of the five food groups is important to
incorporate into our daily meals. Variety of the food
groups and within the food groups will make it
easier to stick to your healthy lifestyle. To figure
out your daily needs for each food group, you can
use your personalized daily checklist.
Fruits: Fruits are one of the best sources of
naturally occurring sugars and nutrients. Consuming
fruits instead of snacks and drinks with added sugar
is a big step towards good health. Fruits can satisfy
your sweet tooth, as well as provide your body with
important nutrients like potassium, dietary fiber,
vitamin C, and vitamin B9. Studies have also shown
that eating fruit can reduce your risk for certain
cancers, heart disease, and diabetes.
Vegetables: For vegetables, it is recommended that
a balanced variety is consumed on a weekly basis.
The dietary guidelines break vegetables into five
categories: dark-green vegetables, starchy
vegetables, red and orange vegetables, beans and
peas, and other vegetables. Vegetables are typically
low in fats and sugars, while providing a good
source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Eating
vegetables has similar benefits to fruits, as well as
reducing risks for heart attack and stroke.
Grains: Grains are not hard to come by in the
typical American diet, but whole grains are not
consumed as much as they should be. It is
recommended that along with fulfilling your daily
need for grains, you should make at least half of the
grains you consume whole grains. Having whole
grains in the diet contributes to successful weight
management and can reduce the risk of heart
disease.
Proteins: Proteins in the diet, including vegetarian
proteins, are good sources of many necessary
vitamins and minerals. Our bodies need protein to
build bones, muscle, skin, and blood. Without it, we
would also not be able to effectively produce
hormones we need for a healthy lifestyle. When
choosing a protein for your meal, take into
consideration how much saturated fat that it
contains. Leaner cuts of red meat, poultry, fish,
nuts, and seeds are good sources of healthy protein.
Variety is also key when consuming proteins. It is
recommended that you consume 8 ounces of
healthy seafood protein a week. Healthy seafood
such as salmon is a good source of omega-3 fatty
acids, which have been shown to reduce the risk of
heart disease. If you are consuming nuts and seeds
for your protein needs, choose ones that are
unsalted or low in sodium.
Dairy: Dairy is an important part of a healthy
lifestyle. This group contains milk, yogurt, cheese,
and any other product made from milk that retains
its calcium. Butter and cream cheese are examples
of milk products that do not fit into this group.
When choosing dairy products, select those that are
low-fat or fat-free. Whole-fat dairy products are
high in saturated fats and can contribute to
unhealthy cholesterol levels. Dairy products are
necessary in our diets to provide calcium and
vitamin D. These nutrients help us build, repair, and
maintain our bones. A sufficient daily intake of
dairy can reduce the risk of osteoporosis and heart
disease. For those that are lactose intolerant, it is
suggested to either consume small portions of dairy,
lactose-free milk, or choose a calcium-fortified soy
milk. If none of those options work for you, you
should consume foods rich in vitamin D and
calcium to replace dairy on your MyPlate.
diet include cooking oils, salad dressings, nuts,
olives, some fish, and avocadoes.
Oils: Although these are not one of the food groups,
they are present in our diets. Oils can provide us
with healthy unsaturated fats that are necessary for
our nutrition. These unsaturated fats do not raise
cholesterol levels like saturated fats do, so they are
a smarter choice. Oils are also a good source of
vitamin E, which prevents damage from freeradicals in our bodies. Only a small amount of oil is
recommended daily, because it is nutrient dense and
energy dense. On average, one tablespoon of oil
contains 120 calories. Healthy sources of oil in the
This information is supplied with the understanding that no
discrimination is intended and no endorsement of brand names or
registered trademarks by the Clemson University Cooperative
Extension Service is implied, nor is any discrimination intended by
the exclusion of products or manufacturers not named. All
recommendations are for South Carolina conditions and may not
apply to other areas. Use pesticides only according to the directions
on the label. All recommendations for pesticide use are for South
Carolina only and were legal at the time of publication, but the status
of registration and use patterns are subject to change by action of
state and federal regulatory agencies. Follow all directions,
precautions and restrictions that are listed.
Sources:
1. USDA’s MyPlate. Build a Healthy Eating Style. November,
2016. www.chooseMyPlate.gov
This information has been reviewed and adapted for use in South
Carolina by Andrew McCullough, Food Science Student and HGIC
Intern, Clemson University. New 02/17.
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