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Health Options
Joannie Dobbs
& Alan Titchenal
Tuesday June 21, 2011
MyPlate’s messages fine, but diet plans too broad
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has provided food recommendations to Americans since 1894
even before the discovery of vitamins.
Over time, these food guidance
systems have evolved from a primary focus on what foods to eat to
meet nutrient needs to more about
avoiding excessive intake of food
components linked to chronic disease.
The latest USDA system is
called MyPlate, which replaces the
MyPyramid food guidance system.
Question: What are the benefits
of the MyPlate food guidance system?
Answer: Instead of the pyramid
display, MyPlate illustrates healthful proportions of food groups to
consume by how much of a plate
these foods should fill. The MyPlate illustration clearly emphasizes that all food groups (protein,
dairy, fruits, vegetables and grains)
are important when consumed in
reasonable quantities.
Q: Is MyPlate different from
MyPyramid?
A: The greatest difference between the two, with the exception
of the image, is that MyPlate has
no obvious exercise message,
whereas MyPyramid had someone
climbing stairs to emphasize the
importance of physical activity.
The food pattern recommended
by MyPlate is essentially the same
as MyPyramid, in a new package.
The key messages are to eat less,
control portion size, make half the
plate fruits and vegetables and at
least half of grains whole grains,
switch to fat-free or low-fat milk,
decrease sodium and drink water
instead of sugary drinks.
Q: Are there problems with MyPlate?
A: Yes. The same diet planning
and evaluation website tools developed for MyPyramid are on the
MyPlate website but have the same
limitations. The so-called personalized daily food plan is really more
of a one-size-fits-all plan because it
will provide a food plan even
without your body weight and
height. Although many of the MyPlate messages may help to prevent
becoming overweight or developing obesity, the system is not well
designed to treat those who are
already overweight. If overweight
and restricting calories, they will
usually require a larger portion of
their plate to be composed of lean
protein foods. Otherwise, their
weight loss is more likely from
muscle and less likely from fat.
Also, athletes engaged in heavy
daily training or individuals who
work in hot environments may
need to include more salt in their
diets than recommended (to balance salt loss in sweat).
Those following vegetarian or
vegan diet plans are unlikely to
meet their protein needs if they are
also cutting calories to lose weight.
The vegan protein options (beans
and nuts) provide about half the
protein per “ounce equivalent” as
the animal protein foods. Also, to
get a gram of protein from lean
meat requires consuming about 8
calories compared to about 24
calories from beans and 36 calories
from most nuts.
Overall, we agree with the MyPlate concept that illustrates the
importance of consuming a variety
of foods from all food groups in
reasonable proportions. This is the
most important simple nutrition
message to help individuals acquire their essential nutrients. Perhaps the greatest challenge in drafting food guidance recommendations for a nation is the need to
generalize.
However, the devil is in the details and we think MyPlate still
needs some critical exorcism.
Joannie Dobbs, PhD, CNS and Alan Titchenal, PhD, CNS
are nutritionists in the Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences,
College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, UH-Manoa.
Dr. Dobbs also works with the University Health Service.
© 2011 Honolulu Star-Bulletin -- http://starbulletin.com
http://www.nutritionatc.hawaii.edu/Articles/2011/472.pdf
HO 472