Fashionable nutrition myths: What a balanced meal really looks like

The 'balanced' meal

If your heritage is mostly, or partly Western, you have a big problem when it comes to nutrition.

That problem is that most Westerners have a very skewed idea of what we expect a meal to consist of, and the ratios in which we expect to eat those foods.

The general idea goes like this:

You should eat three 'square' meals per day. Each meal should consist of protein, carbs and two vegetables. Our expectation has become that meat should cover around half of the plate, carbs around a quarter, and then the two veg get the other quarter of the plate.

So my question is "how is this 'square' or 'balanced'?"

In terms of macronutrients, it's horribly skewed in the direction of protein and meat-related fats. Then we have some starchy carbs, and then way in the distance some fibre and nutrients from the veggies.

Calorie-wise it's even worse, because the vegetables are so calorie-light that they account for under ten percent of the meal. The meat and carbs increase the calorie count of the meal dramatically.

What does a balanced plate look like?

The simple truth is that if you want to lose weight and be healthy you need to eat more vegetables (plant-based foods), and less meat.

A balanced meal is a plate filled 75% with veggies, 15% with starch, and 10% meat. That puts you in the ballpark that you want to be in when it comes to eating the way you were designed to eat.

Try eating a few meals like this, and feel the difference.

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