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Plate model for
healthy eating
A plate format is a
simple way to learn about healthy eating and to plan a balanced
diet. The plate model teaches us how much space on a plate each food
should occupy. It is easy to achieve a balanced meal if one can
understand how much and what to eat. Anyone can use the plate
format.
A typical breakfast plate
Starch/ Cereal -
One-fourth plate bread, grain, or starchy food. Starchy foods
include bread, rolls, rice, crackers, idli, dosa, appam, upma, poha
and other cooked grains; cereal and starchy vegetables, such as
potatoes, corn, and legumes (cooked dry beans, dry peas, and
lentils).
Milk – One glass of
milk. Those who do not drink milk, can substitute with yogourt or
calcium-fortified soy milk
Fruit - One serving of
fruit. This could be a medium fresh fruit, or 1/2 cup cooked fruit,
or 1/2 cup fruit juice, or 1/4 cup dried fruit.
An optional one-fourth
of the plate could be meat or protein (such as an egg).
A
typical lunch / dinner meal plate would be:
-
Starch/Cereals - like rice, whole wheat roti, whole wheat bread,
other grains, starchy foods like potatoes, or grain in one-fourth
of the plate.
-
Protein-
Meat or pulses or other forms of protein in one-fourth of the
plate.
-
Vegetables
- Green leafy and other vegetables in half of the plate. (One-
fourth may be cooked vegetables and one-fourth may be salad).
-
Fruit –
One small piece of fruit outside of the plate.
-
Milk or
Milk product- 1 small cup of milk or curd outside of the plate.
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