Guiding Nutrition Principles for Good Bowls

Big picture, Good Bowls are based on the Mediterranean Diet tweaked for southeastern taste preferences (Med-South). In this case, calling it a “diet” does not mean that we focus on weight loss, but rather a healthy way of eating. See this article for the scientific basis (Dietary and Policy Priorities for Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, and Obesity | Circulation (ahajournals.org))

 Using these principles, each bowl is filled with:

o   Generous portions of high quality fats

o   Generous portions of healthful vegetables

o   Whole grain rice or grits

More on fats

·       Healthful fats reduce the risk for many chronic diseases including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer.  Healthful fats include polyunsaturated fats (or polys) and monounsaturated fats (or monos) from vegetable sources.  Common sources of polys are vegetable oils, nuts, and fish while common sources of the monos from plant sources are vegetable oils, especially olive oil, and nuts.

·       It is important to have at least 2-6 servings of healthful fats each day and more is fine. A serving of vegetable oil, like olive or soybean oil, is one tablespoon or 14 grams, which includes 10-12 grams of polys and monos.

·       Saturated fats are found in beef, pork, dairy products, and some vegetable oils (tropical oils like palm or coconut). In the past saturated fat was considered harmful, but more recent research suggests that saturated fats may be considered “neutral” in terms of diet quality. This means having some in the diet is fine as long as the total amount is modest to leave room for daily generous intake of healthful fats (polys and monos from plant sources) and healthful carbohydrates.

·       Fats of any kind are higher in calories than carbohydrates and protein, but studies show that higher fat diets are NOT associated with weight gain.

·       Each Good Bowl has 1-2 servings of high quality fats!