World of nutrition is littered with diets that promise to meet various health targets, including losing weight, gaining weight, attaining lean-body mass, or in general enjoying a longer healthier life. Many of these diets were at best fads that stole the limelight for a brief period before falling from favor. But some diets have endured the changing dietary fashions, including ones such as the Mediterranean Diet, the MyPlate Diet, and a few others, largely because they were proven to deliver better health outcomes, and help attain desired health goals.
The variety of diets and promises they offer may make you wonder what is the ideal eating plan to help you achieve the health goal you desire. Harvard University researchers have now stepped in to lend a hand in helping people choose a diet that meets their goals, especially if it involves living a longer healthier life.
The scientists studied people who followed one of four different dietary patterns: the Mediterranean Diet, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (MyPlate), the Healthful Plant-Based Diet Index, and their own version, the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI), also known as the ‘Harvard Diet’.
The researchers found that people who followed any of these diets were 20 percent less likely to die during the 36-year study. They also had lower rates of cancer, respiratory disease, and cardiovascular disease. However, the Harvard Diet, which was developed specifically for the study, has garnered particular attention of nutritionists, dieticians and the public at large.
The Harvard Diet recommends a plate ratio of 50:25:25 of vegetables and fruits, whole grains, and proteins respectively. When selecting fruits and vegetables, the diet suggests aiming for color and variety, and remember that potatoes do not count as vegetables on the Healthy Eating Index, because of their negative impact on blood sugar.
For the whole grain portion, the AHEI recommends people go for intact grains, including whole wheat, barley, wheat berries, quinoa, oats, brown rice, and foods made with them, such as whole wheat pasta. Unrefined whole grains have a milder effect on blood sugar and insulin than white bread, white rice, and other refined grains.
On the protein side of your plate, look to include fish, poultry, beans, and nuts, all of which are healthy, versatile protein sources — they can be mixed into salads, and pair well with vegetables on a plate. The diet calls for limiting red meat, and avoiding processed meats such as bacon and sausage.
In addition, AHEI also allows you to use, in moderation, healthy plant oils such as olive, canola, soy, corn, sunflower and peanut oils among others. But remember that just because the label says ‘low-fat’ it does not equate to ‘healthy’, and any oil with the partially hydrogenated label should be avoided as they contain unhealthy trans fats.
The main message of Harvard’s Alternative Healthy Eating Index is to focus on diet quality. Skip the sugary drinks, limit milk and dairy products to one to two servings per day, and limit juice to a small glass per day. Also, remember to stay active in order to maintain weight control.
The Harvard diet also focuses on quality of food, and notes that the type of carbohydrate in the diet is more important than the amount of carbohydrate. This is because some sources of carbohydrate — like vegetables (other than potatoes), fruits, whole grains, and beans — are healthier than others.
The diet also does not set a maximum on the percentage of calories people should get each day from healthy sources of fat. This recommendation is counter to the low-fat message harped on for decades by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) through its MyPlate Diet, which it designed in 2011.
The Harvard Diet is almost identical to MyPlate, with both recommending that half your plate or meal serving should consist of fruits and vegetables, a quarter should be whole grains, and the last quarter should be made up of proteins. Where the two diets differ is that the Harvard Diet advises a smaller proportion of fruits relative to vegetables for the fruits and vegetables portion.
Another key difference between the two is in their fat and dairy recommendations. MyPlate recommends a serving of dairy with each meal. But the Harvard Diet suggests limiting milk/dairy beverages to 1-2 servings per day, and replacing dairy with non-sugary beverages like water, coffee, or tea, due to the higher prevalence of lactose intolerance among the US population. Also, unlike MyPlate, the Harvard Diet advises moderate amounts of healthy fats — in the form of plant oils, such as olive, canola, soy, peanut, corn, and sunflower oils — but avoids trans fats.
Among the several benefits attributed to the Harvard Diet are lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension. In addition, weight loss could also be an added benefit of this diet. These benefits occur largely because the diet is low in processed foods and saturated fats, both of which have been linked to an increased risk for these conditions.
Researchers behind the Harvard Diet say that rather than call it a ‘Diet’ — which in recent years has had a bad rap as people often associate diet as a fad for quick weight loss — it should be seen as an eating plan for leading a healthy life. More importantly, the Harvard Plan can be adopted regardless of your budget as it can be adapted to match the individual’s unique situation.