Plate method

Are we talking about a diet? A miracle method to lose weight? None of that, the plate method It is a very visual tool that can help us better organize our main meals to ensure that the same intake contains a variety of foods and that they are in reasonable proportions.

• The plate method It emerged to make it easier for diabetic patients to control their intake so that they could eat meals with the appropriate proportions from different food groups.
• This method is a visual scheme that is used at lunch and dinner, as it helps to divide the plate into three different parts, which are what each type of food should occupy.
• In the plate method, we will fill half the plate with vegetables, a quarter with protein foods and the other quarter with foods rich in complex carbohydrates.

The origin of the plate method

This proposal that today is used to talk about in general, arises from the need to convey to diabetic patients the importance of having varied meals with adequate percentages of the different food groups. This method is used mainly for the main meals of the day: noon and dinner. Although today there are already many ways of approaching the treatment of diabetes mellitus, and the diet will be adjusted in each case to the treatments used, from the outset the presence of foods rich in carbohydrates in Sufficient and not excessive amount, adjusted to insulin doses. This has led to the emergence of formulas and ways to quantify this intake and one of them is the plate method with which the composition of the intake is quantified in a very simple and practical way.

How does the method work?

In reality, it is not about putting any system into operation but it is a tool as simple as it is useful and visual to properly distribute the intake of the different food groups on our plate. It is based on the use of a plate as a plate unique, but if we wish it can be easily adapted if we take two dishes.

How do we distribute food?

First, we imagine a flat, round plate and draw an imaginary line on it that divides it in half. In one we will place foods that are part of the group of vegetables. The other, we will divide it into two again, each of which will correspond to a quarter of the total plate. In one room we will place the protein foods and in the other the foods richest in

Vegetables and greens (half of the plate) This half is made up of cooked or raw vegetables in the form of a salad. We are talking about tomato, onion, carrot, lettuce, lamb's lettuce, spinach, chard, mushrooms, asparagus, broccoli, peppers,, zucchini, cauliflower, cabbage, beets, radishes, etc. Cooked vegetables can be prepared in any way but it is always advisable to opt for cooking such as steam, oven, sautéed, grill, papillote, griddle, poached, etc.

Farinaceous (a quarter of the plate) The part of the plate destined to the farinaceous will be occupied mainly by cereals and tubers. We are talking about potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, quinoa, millet, wheat, macaroni, spaghetti, bread, toast, cereal grits or couscous, etc. Some examples are: a mashed potato or baked potato, a scoop of rice, a garnish of wheat semolina, some spirals of pasta accompanying a salad ...

Proteins (a quarter of the plate) The portion of the plate occupied by proteins will be made up of meat, fish or eggs or dairy or legumes. A grilled beef fillet, baked chicken, fish en papillote, a vegetable scramble, some cheese cubes as part of a salad, or some lentils that, combined with a cereal, will already provide us with an interesting protein richness.

Form of presentation

The important thing is that the proportions of the. Once we have verified that the vegetables occupy half of the plate and protein and farinaceous a quarter, we can keep that structure of separate foods or mix everything, what's more, many preparations can respect these percentages of food groups but cook and serve all together.

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And what if I prefer to have two courses?

If we want to have two different dishes, we will opt for a whole plate of raw or cooked vegetables, which will generally be the first dish, and a second dish in which half will be protein foods and the other half will be tubers, cereals or their derivatives. Of course, we must try not to overdo the portions when taking two dishes.

What about foods that are not part of the method?

Although the foods that occupy the three fractions of the plate are vegetables, farinaceous or tubers and protein foods, we can include other types of foods unless for some nutritional dietary reason we are instructed otherwise. Usually we will dress with and we can include foods that complement or give joy to the dish such as nuts or other dried fruits, pieces of fruit, pomegranate, seeds, sprouts, etc.

Examples: - Sautéed asparagus, leeks, zucchini and aubergine with rice and scrambled egg shavings. - Lamb salad, arugula and cherry tomatoes, quinoa and grilled turkey fillets. - Baked sea bass with potatoes, red and green peppers, onion and tomato. - Wok noodles with broccoli, bamboo, mushrooms, almonds and prawns.