Introducing “My African Plate”- A Guide to Healthier Eating!

English: USDA MyPlate nutritional guide icon

Image via Wikipedia

Two of the most common questions I  receive from  The African Pot Nutrition Community are, “How should I eat” and “how many calories are in this particular African food?” This week I will answer both these questions in the series “My African Plate.” Based off the “My Plate” concept unveiled by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2011,“My African Plate” will provide guidance on how to improve your eating habits while maintaining the African foods you are accustomed to. Ever wonder how many calories are in your favorite African food?  This week’s series will list the basic nutrient content of some of the most common African dishes/foods.

Why My Plate?

A healthy eating plan should never be confusing and since most people eat off a plate, it makes sense to have an icon that people can relate to. (Well, as opposed to a pyramid). It’s easier to remember the different proportions of a healthy diet when you have a plate as a measuring tool. In addition, the USDA’s “My Plate” represents what dietitians have been encouraging for years, “choose a wide variety of food and watch your portions.”  The recommendations from the USDA are very simple: Start by filling 1/2 your plate with veggies and fruits, then add grains to 1/4 of your plate and cover the rest of your plate with protein.  On the side of the plate is a glass of milk, representing the importance of dairy in the diet. Sounds pretty simple right? That’s the idea. Eating should not be complex.

Are you ready to change the way you eat? Join us for My African Plate!

About these ads

Tags: , , , ,

Categories: Food As Medicine, General Nutrition, My African Plate- A Guide to Better Eating!, Uncategorized

Subscribe

Subscribe to our RSS feed and social profiles to receive updates.

5 Comments on “Introducing “My African Plate”- A Guide to Healthier Eating!”

  1. April 2, 2012 at 10:26 pm #

    I’m not sure where you are getting your info, but great topic. I must spend a while learning more or working out more. Thank you for wonderful info I was looking for this information for my mission.

  2. June 5, 2012 at 9:47 pm #

    What a fun series – and such a helpful topic! Can’t wait to see more. :)

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Protein on “MyAfricanPlate!”…. A Guide To Healthier Eating! | Nutrition in the African Diaspora - March 28, 2012

    [...] Introducing “My African Plate”- A Guide to Healthier Eating! (theafricanpotnutrition.com) [...]

  2. Fruits and Vegetables on “MyAfricanPlate!”…A Guide To Healthier Eating. | Nutrition in the African Diaspora - March 29, 2012

    [...] Introducing “My African Plate”- A Guide to Healthier Eating! (theafricanpotnutrition.com) [...]

  3. What to Drink with “MyAfricanPlate!”…A Guide To Better Eating. | Nutrition in the African Diaspora - March 31, 2012

    [...] Introducing “My African Plate”- A Guide to Healthier Eating! (theafricanpotnutrition.com) [...]

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 55 other followers

%d bloggers like this: