What’s a Well-Balanced Diet?

An argument you offer hear against plant-based food is: how do you get enough proteins? The question in my mind really ought to be: how can anyone ensure you eat a healthy and well-balanced diet? In my case add “plant-based” before diet.

Warning upfront: I am not a dietician. So to keep my convictions in check I did some surfing across the world to see what the consensus is.

This Australian writer states: “the balance is a quarter proteins, a quarter carbohydrates and half vegetables”. Easy to remember!

The UK’s National Health Service posts something quite similar. Notice the bullet “Eat some beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat…” – do not think immediately that “protein” means “meat”:

• Eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day (5 portions = 400 grams fresh, canned or frozen)
• Base meals on higher fibre starchy foods (potatoes, bread, rice or pasta)
• Have some dairy or dairy alternatives (e.g. soya drinks)
• Eat some beans and pulses (e.g. lentils, chickpeas), fish, eggs, meat and other protein
• Small amounts of unsaturated oils and spreads
• Drink plenty of fluids (at least 6 to 8 glasses a day)

Although I am suspicious of any advice from the USA, I tend to trust prestigious universities. Hence this Harvard University article has made the cut for this post. I particularly love this graphical representation of a “healthy eating plate”:

This is similar to the UK view of a balanced diet and comes close to the Australian view: half vegetables and fruits (read “carbohydrates”), quarter “healthy” protein (“limit red meat, avoid bacon, cold cuts and other processed meats’), quarter whole grains (read “carbohydrates”), healthy plant oils and lots of healthy fluids. Alas I also read: “limit cheese’.

Let’s broaden our horizons even more and look at the secrets of the Blue Zones. These are regions of the world where over a long period of time an usually high part of the population is older than a hundred years. The longevity story goes well beyond food. The Blue Zones is an inspiring story. It entails a lifestyle similar to the one I stand for.

These guidelines are even simpler than the previous ones:

• 95% plant-based
• two thirds carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, rice…)
• 15% proteins (legumes like beans or pulses, eggs, a little meat or fish)
• 20% fat – plant-based, needless to say!

If you want the whole food 😉 story, take a look at this daily – weekly – monthly breakdown of the Blue Zones food guidelines:

As I live in the Netherlands I have to look into the national beliefs. It’s encapsulated in the so-called disc of five (“schijf van vijf”). A healthy diet according to this national food center is based on:

• Plenty of vegetables and fruit
• Fat from spreads and oil / butter
• Proteins from fish, beans and , meat, eggs, nuts and dairy
• Carbohydrates like bread, grains and potatoes.
• Fluids

Let’s take finally a look at the country where the French Food Philosopher was born. I found this simple drawing on the site of the country’s cardiology federation:

The site states that a healthy plate consists of:

• Two thirds vegetables, raw or cooked
• One third carbohydrates (potatoes, rice, pasta, grains, beans and pulses)
• Some proteins (meat, fish, eggs, cheese).

As you see, there’s little room on the plate for “some proteins”. I suck at math so I used a calculator to verify that when you add one third and two third you actually have no room left.

This group of French doctors in essence confirm the Blue Zones results: avoid animal proteins, go plant-based!

Next time I will post some examples of “balanced plates of food”, plant-based of course!