Nutrition
Healthy eating: whole food first, honest about fats
No expensive powders or superfoods. Everyday foods from any supermarket, with plenty of plants, and meat and fish if you eat them.
§ 01 — The plate
Half vegetables, a quarter protein, a quarter grains
- 50%
- Vegetables and fruit. The WHO recommends at least 400 g a day, which is about five portions.[1]
- 25%
- Protein. Beans, lentils, eggs, tofu, dairy, chicken or fish.
- 25%
- Whole grains. Wholegrain bread, brown rice, oats or quinoa.
Plate model adapted from the Harvard Healthy Eating Plate.[2]
§ 02Protein
Three levels, not one number
You don't need meat every day to get enough protein. Beans with rice, lentil soup with bread, hummus, tofu, eggs and dairy all provide good protein, and pairing grains with beans or lentils fills each other's amino-acid gaps.[3] A well-planned vegetarian diet is suitable for adults of every age and for athletes.[14] If you have kidney disease, speak to your doctor before increasing protein.
§ 03Fats
Butter, olive oil and seed oils: the honest middle
Two separate questions get mixed up: which fat holds up best when heated, and which fat is best for your heart. They have different answers.
For high-heat cooking
Stable fats hold up better
Oils high in polyunsaturated fat, such as sunflower, safflower and corn oil, break down faster at frying temperatures and form more harmful aldehydes than more saturated or monounsaturated fats.[7] For frying and searing, olive oil or another monounsaturated oil (such as rapeseed or peanut oil) is the more stable everyday choice.
For your heart
Unsaturated fats come out ahead
Butter, ghee, coconut oil and palm oil are mostly saturated fat. Replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fat lowers LDL cholesterol and cardiovascular events.[8,9] The WHO recommends keeping saturated fat below 10% of your daily calories.[10] At 2,000 kcal, a little butter a day fits comfortably within that.
- Use mostly unsaturated oils. Olive and rapeseed oil for everyday cooking, and butter or other saturated fats in small amounts.
- Never reuse frying oil. Repeatedly heated oil builds up harmful compounds.[11]
- Avoid trans fats. Check labels for "partially hydrogenated" oils, still found in some fried and packaged foods.[10]
§ 04Foods
What to build meals from
Protein
- Eggs
- About 6 g of protein per egg, and a complete protein.
- Lentils, beans and chickpeas
- High in both protein and fibre. Paired with grains such as rice, bread or pasta, they make a complete protein.[3]
- Yogurt, cottage cheese and milk
- Dairy protein, plus calcium. Greek yogurt and cottage cheese are especially high in protein, and yogurt contains live cultures.
- Tofu, tempeh and edamame
- Soy is one of the few plant proteins that is complete on its own.[3]
- Chicken, turkey and fish
- Lean and high in protein. Fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel and sardines also provide omega-3.
Carbohydrates
- Wholegrain bread and pasta
- More fibre and slower-release energy than products made with refined white flour.
- Brown rice, quinoa and other whole grains
- They keep the bran, so they have more fibre and B vitamins than refined grains.
- Oats
- A quick, filling breakfast that is high in soluble fibre.
- Whole fruit
- Fibre, potassium and vitamins. Eat fruit whole: the WHO counts fruit juice as free sugar.[15]
- Potato and sweet potato, with skin
- The skin adds fibre.
Micronutrients
- Leafy greens with vitamin C
- The iron in plants is absorbed less well than iron from meat. Eating a vitamin C source at the same meal, such as citrus, peppers or tomato, increases how much you absorb.[13]
- Calcium and vitamin D
- Milk, yogurt, cheese, calcium-set tofu and fortified plant milks provide calcium. Your skin makes vitamin D in sunlight, and many people need a supplement in winter.
- Vitamin B12
- Found almost only in animal foods. Vegetarians who eat little dairy or egg, and all vegans, need fortified foods or a supplement.[14]
- Plant omega-3
- Flax, chia and walnuts contain ALA, but the body converts only a small fraction of it into the omega-3s EPA and DHA. Vegetarians can consider an algae-based DHA supplement.[12]
- Citrus, berries, peppers and seasonal vegetables
- Rich in vitamin C.
§ 05Your style
Vegetarian, flexitarian or meat and fish
Vegetarian
Beans, lentils, tofu, eggs and dairy every day, with whole grains. Plan for vitamin B12 through fortified foods or a supplement, and eat iron-rich foods with vitamin C.[14]
Flexitarian
Build most days on beans, lentils, tofu, yogurt and eggs, and add chicken or fish once to three times a week. Keep an eye on B12 and iron.
Meat and fish
Eggs, poultry and fish as staples, and red meat only occasionally. Avoid processed meat, which the WHO's cancer agency classifies as carcinogenic.[17] Still eat beans and vegetables every day for fibre.
Sugar
Keep free sugars below 10% of your daily calories, and ideally below 5%. Free sugars include table sugar, honey, syrups and fruit juice, but not whole fruit.[15] Sugar in soft drinks, coffee and tea adds up quickly.
Water
EFSA recommends a total daily water intake of about 2.5 L for men and 2.0 L for women, and around 80% of that usually comes from drinks. You need more in hot weather or when you exercise.[16] Water, milk and unsweetened tea or coffee are good choices; skip sugary drinks.
§ 06Your plan
Your 7-day meal plan
Everyday meals that reach your calorie and protein targets.
References
- 1.Healthy diet — fact sheet no. 394. World Health Organization, 2020.
- 2.Healthy Eating Plate. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 2011.
- 3.Dietary protein quality evaluation in human nutrition (FAO Food and Nutrition Paper 92). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2013.
- 4.Protein and amino acid requirements in human nutrition (WHO Technical Report Series 935). WHO/FAO/UNU Expert Consultation, 2007.
- 5.Reevaluation of the protein requirement in young men with the indicator amino acid oxidation technique. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2007.doi:10.1093/ajcn/86.4.995
- 6.Protein supplementation and resistance-training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength: systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2018.doi:10.1136/bjsports-2017-097608
- 7.Aldehydes contained in edible oils of a very different nature after prolonged heating at frying temperature. Food Chemistry, 2012.doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2011.09.079
- 8.Dietary fats and cardiovascular disease: a presidential advisory from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 2017.doi:10.1161/CIR.0000000000000510
- 9.Reduction in saturated fat intake for cardiovascular disease. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2020.doi:10.1002/14651858.CD011737.pub3
- 10.Saturated fatty acid and trans-fatty acid intake for adults and children: WHO guideline. World Health Organization, 2023.
- 11.Evaluation of the deleterious health effects of consumption of repeatedly heated vegetable oil. Toxicology Reports, 2016.doi:10.1016/j.toxrep.2016.08.003
- 12.Conversion of α-linolenic acid to longer-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in human adults. Reproduction Nutrition Development, 2005.doi:10.1051/rnd:2005047
- 13.Iron bioavailability and dietary reference values. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2010.doi:10.3945/ajcn.2010.28674f
- 14.Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: vegetarian diets. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2016.doi:10.1016/j.jand.2016.09.025
- 15.Guideline: sugars intake for adults and children. World Health Organization, 2015.
- 16.Scientific opinion on dietary reference values for water. EFSA Journal, 2010.doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2010.1459
- 17.Carcinogenicity of consumption of red and processed meat. The Lancet Oncology, 2015.doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(15)00444-1
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