A Healthy Diet and the Plato del Bien Comer (Mexico's Healthy Eating Plate)
Ximena and Diego each eat about 700 kcal at the long recess and lunch. Ximena orders a hamburger with french fries and a soda. Diego eats chicken, rice, beans, salad, and plain water. The two meals provide almost the same energy, so are they equally good for the body? We'll find out at the end of the page.
More Than Energy: The Quality of the Diet
On the page about kilocalories we saw how much energy a food provides. But the body needs more than just energy: it also needs materials to build and repair tissues, and substances so that everything works properly.
That is why a healthy diet must be:
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Complete: it includes all the nutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, vitamins, minerals, and water).
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Balanced: each nutrient in the right proportion.
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Varied: different foods at each meal and throughout the week.
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Sufficient and appropriate: it covers the energy you use and fits your age, activity, and context (what is available in your region, your culture, your budget).
The Plato del Bien Comer
In Mexico, the guide for eating well is the Plato del Bien Comer. It divides foods into three groups and recommends combining them at every meal.
| Group | Examples | Mainly provides |
|---|---|---|
| Vegetables and fruits | nopales (cactus pads), tomato, squash, orange, guava | vitamins, minerals, fiber, and water |
| Cereals and tubers | corn tortilla, rice, oats, bread, potato | carbohydrates (energy) and fiber if whole grain |
| Legumes and foods of animal origin | beans, lentils, egg, chicken, fish, milk | proteins, and minerals such as iron and calcium |
Lipids (oil, avocado, nuts) are needed in small amounts and appear within several groups.
Why You Need to Combine the Three Groups
Each group provides what another one does not:
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Only cereals: a lot of energy, but little protein and few vitamins.
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Only meat: a lot of protein, but lacking fiber and vitamins, and it usually has more fat.
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Only vegetables and fruits: a lot of vitamins, but little energy and protein.
By combining all three, the body gets energy (carbohydrates and lipids), materials to grow and repair (proteins), and regulating substances (vitamins and minerals). Variety also lowers the risk of missing something.
In Mexico, the "Plato del Bien Comer" (Plate of Good Eating) organizes foods into three groups: vegetables and fruits; cereals and tubers; legumes and foods of animal…
In Mexico, the "Plato del Bien Comer" (Plate of Good Eating) organizes foods into three groups: vegetables and fruits; cereals and tubers; legumes and foods of animal origin. Explain which nutrients each group mainly provides and why a healthy diet combines all three at every meal instead of relying on just one.
Vitamins, Minerals, and Plain Drinking Water
Vitamins, minerals, and water do not provide energy, but without them the body cannot function. They are needed in small amounts (vitamins and minerals) or large amounts (water), and they come mainly from vegetables, fruits, legumes, and foods of animal origin, that is, from eating a varied diet.
| Nutrient | What it does | Where it is found | If it is lacking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vitamin C | healing and defenses | orange, guava, lime, tomato | weakness and bleeding gums |
| Vitamin A | vision and skin | carrot, squash, egg | poor vision in low light |
| Iron (mineral) | carrying oxygen in the blood | beans, lentils, meat, liver | anemia: tiredness and paleness |
| Calcium (mineral) | bones and teeth | milk, cheese, nixtamalized corn tortilla, charales (small dried fish) | weak bones |
| Iodine (mineral) | thyroid function | iodized table salt, fish | goiter (swelling of the neck) |
| Plain drinking water | carries nutrients, regulates temperature, removes waste | purified jug water or tap water that is boiled or treated | dehydration: thirst, headache, dizziness |
Plain drinking water is the best drink for staying hydrated: it has no added sugar and it is safe to drink. Packaged juices and sodas provide water, but also a lot of sugar.
Same Energy, Different Quality
Compare two meals of about 700 kcal.
| Meal A | Meal B | |
|---|---|---|
| Dish | hamburger, french fries, soda | chicken, rice, beans, salad, plain water |
| Groups of the Plato | cereal (bun) and animal origin; almost no vegetables | all three groups |
| Nutrients | plenty of carbohydrates and lipids; the soda provides sugar with no other nutrients | carbohydrates, proteins, moderate lipids, vitamins, minerals, and fiber |
| Drink | provides extra energy | water: hydrates with no energy |
The energy is similar, but the quality changes: meal B has more variety and more of the substances the body needs for each kcal. Meal A has too much sugar and fat and lacks fiber and vitamins.
Back to the beginning: Ximena and Diego eat the same amount of energy, but Diego gets a more complete and varied diet; Ximena's is low in vegetables and fiber and high in sugar.
Two meals have almost the same energy content (about 700 kcal): the first is a hamburger with fries and a soft drink; the second is a plate with chicken, rice, beans, a…
Two meals have almost the same energy content (about 700 kcal): the first is a hamburger with fries and a soft drink; the second is a plate with chicken, rice, beans, a vegetable salad, and plain water. Without saying that one "makes you fat" and the other doesn't, compare both meals in terms of nutrient groups, the variety of the "Plato del Bien Comer", and the quality of the energy they provide. Which one would you choose as an everyday meal and why?