Examining the government’s food plate

Last updated on April 18th, 2017

“Faced with decades of explosively increasing numbers of obese people and diabetics the US government answer is to find a more effective way to give the exact same fat phobic advice.”  Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt

The United States Department of Agriculture has unleashed its Food Plate, a replacement for the venerable Food Pyramid.

As you can see, it is actually a plate plus a glass and a fork, and darn colorful.  The general idea is to show Americans how to eat a healthy meal.  The U.S. government has been trying to teach Americans how to eat for several decades now, and as Gary Taubes and others have demonstrated, has mostly succeeded in making people fatter and less healthy than when the effort began.  Yes, I know, it is difficult to believe that the United States Government could mess up like that; no doubt it is a rare event. But consider this from Dr. Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health: “The country’s big low-fat message backfired. The overemphasis on reducing fat caused the consumption of carbohydrates and sugar in our diets to soar.”  Dr. Hu believes that dietary shift is related to “the biggest health problems in America today” (link).

I thought it would be useful, or at least amusing, to review the five food categories on the new Food Plate from the perspective of my low-carbohydrate diet.  Basically, it is a matter of crossing out a few items in each category. (OK, in some cases, a lot of items.)

Note that I say my low-carb diet.  I don’t claim to be an expert on low-carb diets or a spokesperson for anyone besides myself.  Frankly, I crossed out some items because I don’t like them and would never eat them, low-carb or not.   The food lists were taken from the USDA’s ChooseMyPlate web site.  So here we go.

***FRUIT***

Berries are OK in my book, and I would add blackberries to the USDA’s berry list.  Probably most other fruits will work on a low carb diet if you strictly limit your servings and serving size — but so far I have avoided everything except berries.  Maybe someday I will eat a small apple, peach or pear.  Not fruit juices, though.  Fruit juice has all the sweetness with most of the fiber removed.  Small amounts of lemon and lime juice in cooking are fine.

Apples
Apricots
Bananas

Berries:
strawberries
blueberries
raspberries

Cherries
Grapefruit
Grapes
Kiwi fruit
Lemons
Limes
Mangoes

Melons:
cantaloupe
honeydew
watermelon

Mixed fruits:
fruit cocktail

Nectarines
Oranges
Peaches
Pears
Papaya
Pineapple
Plums
Prunes
Raisins
Tangerines

100% Fruit juice:
orange
apple
grape
grapefruit

***GRAINS***

I confess. A couple of times a week I mix a quarter-cup of rolled oats with a tablespoon of flaxseed meal and water for breakfast.  I put butter and cream on top, and I may stir in a few berries.  It’s my cereal fix.  Also once or twice a week I eat tuna salad in a whole wheat tortilla (3g net carbs  for the tortilla). That’s about it for grains for me.

Whole grains:
amaranth
brown rice
buckwheat
bulgur (cracked wheat)
millet
oatmeal
popcorn

Ready-to-eat breakfast cereals:
whole wheat cereal flakes
muesli

rolled oats
quinoa
sorghum
triticale
whole grain barley
whole grain cornmeal
whole rye
whole wheat bread
whole wheat crackers
whole wheat pasta
whole wheat sandwich buns and rolls
whole wheat tortillas
wild rice

Refined grains

***PROTEIN***

Now we are getting to the meat of the matter!  Since going low-carb, I haven’t eaten any game meat, duck eggs or liver.  But, except for the liver, I would eat them.  And I might even eat liver if it were in something.  So I left game meat and liver on the list.

Meats
Lean cuts of:
beef
ham
lamb
pork
veal

Game meats:
bison
rabbit
venison

Lean ground meats:
beef
pork
lamb

Lean luncheon or deli meats

Organ meats:
liver
giblets

Poultry:
chicken
duck
goose
turkey
ground chicken and turkey

Eggs:
chicken eggs
duck eggs

Beans and peas
I do ingest some soy simply because it is hard to avoid soy these days.  But I am trying to avoid it.

Seafood and fish — Yes!

Nuts and seeds:
almonds
cashews
hazelnuts (filberts)
mixed nuts
peanuts
peanut butter (the kind that is just peanuts and salt)
pecans
pistachios
pumpkin seeds
sesame seeds
sunflower seeds
walnuts

***VEGETABLES***

I notice that the USDA classifies corn as a vegetable. All this time, I thought it was a grain!  But as an agency of the federal government, the USDA ought to be able to tell a grain from a vegetable.  So I crossed it out in this section instead of crossing it out in the grain section.  Potatoes are the other big deletion here.

Dark green vegetables:
bok choy
broccoli
collard greens
dark green leafy lettuce
kale
mesclun
mustard greens
romaine lettuce
spinach
turnip greens
watercress

Red & orange vegetables:
acorn squash
butternut squash
carrots
hubbard squash
pumpkin
red peppers
sweet potatoes
tomatoes
tomato juice

Beans and peas:
black beans
black-eyed peas (mature, dry)
garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
kidney beans
lentils
navy beans
pinto beans
soy beans
split peas
white beans

Starchy vegetables:
cassava
corn
fresh cowpeas, field peas, or black-eyed peas (not dry)
green bananas
green peas
green lima beans
plantains
potatoes
taro
water chestnuts

Other vegetables:
artichokes
asparagus
avocado
bean sprouts
beets
Brussels sprouts
cabbage
cauliflower
celery
cucumbers
eggplant
green beans
green peppers
iceberg (head) lettuce
mushrooms
okra
onions
parsnips
turnips
wax beans
zucchini

***DAIRY***

I noticed that the USDA accidentally left half-and-half and heavy whipping cream off the list, so I added them under milk.  Just trying to be helpful.   I have tried a low-carb, milk-based, chocolate-flavored drink made by Atkins. I might try no-sugar-added ice cream someday.

Fluid Milk:
fat-free (skim)
low fat (1%)
reduced fat (2%)
whole milk
half-and-half
heavy cream

Flavored milks:
chocolate
strawberry
lactose-reduced milks
lactose-free milks

Milk-based desserts:
puddings
ice milk
frozen yogurt
ice cream

Calcium-fortified soymilk

Cheese:
hard natural cheeses:
cheddar
mozzarella
Swiss
Parmesan

soft cheeses:
ricotta
cottage cheese

processed cheeses:
American

Yogurt:
fat-free
low fat
reduced fat
whole milk yogurt

Regarding beverages, the USDA gives a piece of advice that fits my practice well: “Drink water instead of sugary drinks.”

(This article was originally posted on my JimA’s blog on June 3, 2011.)