Portion plate guidance

A healthy meal provides nutrition, taste and pleasure. The portion plate guides us as to how we can create healthy meals – it advises that half of your plate should be non-starchy vegetables, a quarter should be wholegrain carbohydrates and the remaining quarter should be lean protein.

A varied diet is important to ensure that you get all the vitamins and minerals that you need to be healthy and feel your best. This is a great opportunity to explore new foods, flavours, recipes and ideas that you haven’t tried before. If you don’t have the time or don’t want to completely overhaul your existing diet that’s fine too – a lot of meals and snacks that you currently eat can be tweaked in order to make them match the portion plate proportions.

Half non-starchy vegetables, salad or fruit – half of your plate

Aim to eat at least 5 portions of vegetables, salad and fruit a day. Vegetables can be eaten raw or cooked (steaming is best as it preserves the minerals as opposed to boiling). Frozen vegetables are often more nutritious than fresh as they are frozen very quickly after picking. Fruits are full of vitamins, minerals and fibre. They also contain natural sugars which will increase blood glucose levels. They can form part of your 5-a-day; however, we suggest limiting your intake of fruit to two portions per day.

Wholegrain carbohydrates – quarter of your plate

Carbohydrates fuel for the body. They are rich in vitamins, minerals and fibre. Fibre has many important roles. Most importantly, fibre helps you to feel fuller for longer and manage blood glucose levels which helps to manage appetite. Try to choose wholegrain carbohydrates as much as possible to ensure you get the most from the food you eat. Examples of wholegrain carbohydrates are:

Wholegrain or seeded bread, tortilla, pitta, roti, flatbread, naan, crackers, chapatti, injera etc
Any type of pasta
Wholegrain/Basmati rice
Boiled or steamed potato or sweet potato (with skin on), yam, cassava, plantain
Wholegrain cereals, rolled oats and bran or malted flakes

Lean protein – quarter of your plate

Lean protein helps our bodies to maintain, build and repair muscle and tissue. Maintaining muscle is important for our metabolism. Choosing lean protein can also help you to feel fuller for longer, and therefore help to manage appetite. Try to choose lean proteins as much as possible to ensure you get the most from the food you eat. Examples of lean proteins are:

Breast of poultry meat
Lean red meats
Fish (any type)
Beans, lentils, pulses
Eggs
Quorn, tofu and other alternatives

Fat

Fat is an important part of a healthy diet – our bodies use it to maintain our tissues and make hormones. However, fats are also energy dense i.e. they have a lot of energy in a small amount. You may notice that the proportion plate does not contain fats in it. This is because a lot of foods contain natural fats e.g. fatty meats, oily fish, cheese, nuts, seeds, avocados. Foods that contain added fats e.g. crisps, biscuits, pastries, chocolate can be included in a healthy lifestyle but should be limited as they are high in energy but low in nutrients. A starting point is to limit these foods to 1-2 per week. Fats can also be used in cooking and preparing meals. Use healthy fats (olive, vegetable, rapeseed, sunflower oil and spreads) in small amounts (a teaspoon, per person, per meal) to reduce excess energy.

Example of an unbalanced meal:

Lack of protein and vegetables
Few vitamins and minerals
Low in fibre
Bland and lacking in flavour

Example meal based on the portion plate:

Balance of vegetables, carbohydrates and protein
Packed with vitamins and minerals
High in fibre
Full of flavour