Tips for Building a Healthier / Balanced Plate (South African Guidelines)
- Bridgette Matthewson
- Apr 30
- 3 min read
How would you feel if I told you that creating a balanced plate is more about choosing thoughtful food combinations and less about what you need to remove?
As registered dietitians, we believe that empowering individuals with knowledge is the cornerstone of making informed food choices - choices that are often not as restrictive as they might seem.
In this post we will explore nine effective tips to transform your meals into ones that delights the senses and fuel the body. No one food contains everything your body needs, so think of these as crucial elements in your toolkit for making informed and nutritious food choices:
Include a Starch in Most Meals
While adding a source of starch to meals is important, don’t forget to keep your portion size in mind and prioritise your wholegrain starch options where possible.
Are carbs really fattening?
Click here to find out more about the benefits of starches and why we should include them in our meals.
Load Up on Fruits & Veggies, Daily
When looking to optimise your health, eating fruits and vegetables according to a variety of colours, takes it to the next level. Just think of all those wonderful nutrients!
Choose Legumes, Often
Split peas, beans, soya and lentils are great sources of protein and fibre, yet so often a group of foods we are quick to forget about! They can easily be ‘hidden’ in our most common dishes - such as adding lentils to a curry / soup; beans to a bolognaise sauce or even adding split peas to a stir-fry.
Go Lean with Animal Proteins, Daily
Lean protein sources such as fish, chicken, eggs and lean meat are lower in fat which you’ll see, in the next point, is an important consideration when building a healthy plate.
Add Fats Thoughtfully
Think of it this way: just 2 teaspoons of oil have the same calories as a slice of bread. Those calories can sneak in quickly if we’re not careful.
Therefore, when adding fat to foods this should be done in moderation and where possible, vegetables oils should be chosen over hard fats.
Cut Back on Salt
Did you know? Something as basic as 2 slices of our local South African store-bought bread can already meet around 12% of our daily salt (sodium) intake?
Add an additional 1/2 teaspoon of salt throughout the day to food and we are already at 60% of this recommendation.
Therefore, without even knowing it, we could be exceeding our daily recommended salt (sodium) intake, just by the foods we eat and how we prepare them.
Be Mindful of Sugar
Excessive sugar intake can have a negative impact on overall health. Be on the lookout for how commonly sugar is added to our favourite beverages and food items, it can add up very quickly by the end of the day.
Don’t Skip Dairy
Don’t miss out on your daily dose of dairy. Whether you are a child; active adult; middle-aged; a woman going through menopause; or a senior individual - having sufficient dairy products (i.e. milk, maas and yoghurt) should be a priority for each stage of life to promote and/ maintain strong bones and teeth.
Mix it up For Variety
As mentioned above, not one food can contain everything our bodies needs for good health, therefore by including a variety of foods within each food group above, is the ultimate way to nourish our bodies.
A colourful, varied plate isn’t just more nutritious - it’s more exciting, too! Let every meal be an opportunity to nurture good health.
Not sure where to start? Ask yourself:
How many of these tips am I already following?
What small change can I make this week?
If you're ready to take that next step, we're here to help. Book your dietetics consultation for tailored support and expert guidance.
We have branches in Lonehill, at Concourse Medical Centre, and in Dainfern, at Chartwell Corner Shopping Centre.
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