Nutrition and a Healthy Body · Lesson 1 of 9 · 12 min

Building a balanced plate

You do not need a complicated plan to eat well. The NHS Eatwell Guide shows roughly how much of each food group to aim for across a day or a week, and once you know the shape, you can apply it to almost any meal, from machboos to a sandwich.

The Eatwell Guide in one picture

The Eatwell Guide splits food into five groups: fruit and vegetables; starchy carbohydrates; beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins; dairy and alternatives; and oils and spreads.
Fruit and vegetables should make up just over a third of what you eat, and starchy foods should make up just over another third. Protein and dairy are smaller shares, and oils are a very small share.
The balance is meant to be reached over a day or a week, not on every single plate. One meal light on vegetables is fine if others make up for it.
Foods and drinks high in fat, salt and sugar sit outside the main guide. Think of them as 'sometimes' foods: enjoyed less often and in smaller amounts, without guilt.
The guide also suggests 6 to 8 cups or glasses of fluid a day, more in heat or when you are active.

Fruit and vegetables: colour and variety

Aim for at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables a day. One adult portion is 80g, for example a handful of cherry tomatoes or one medium apple.
Fresh, frozen and canned all count. Choose canned options in juice or water, without added sugar or salt.
30g of dried fruit, such as a few dates, counts as a portion. The NHS suggests eating it at mealtimes rather than as a between-meal snack, to protect your teeth.
Fruit juice and smoothies count only once a day, with a combined limit of 150ml. Beans and pulses also count only once, however much you eat.
Potatoes do not count towards your 5 A Day because they are a starchy food. Sweet potatoes do count.
WHO recommends that everyone over 10 eats at least 400g of fruit and vegetables a day, which matches the 5 x 80g idea.

Starchy carbohydrates: your main fuel

Starchy foods such as rice, bread, pasta, oats and potatoes are the body's main source of carbohydrate, which gives you energy. They also provide fibre, calcium, iron and B vitamins.
Try to include one starchy food with each main meal.
Choose wholegrain or higher-fibre versions when you can: brown rice, wholewheat pasta, wholemeal khubz or bread, and potatoes with their skins on. They are digested more slowly and keep you fuller for longer.
Rice safety matters in a hot climate: serve cooked rice soon after cooking, or cool it and refrigerate it within 1 hour, eat it within 24 hours, reheat it only once until steaming hot, and throw away rice left out overnight.

Protein, dairy and oils

Protein foods include beans, pulses, fish, eggs and meat. Vary them through the week rather than relying on one.
The NHS recommends at least 2 portions of fish a week (a portion is 140g), one of them oily, such as salmon, sardines or mackerel. Hammour, safi and other local white fish count towards the first portion.
Limit red and processed meats such as sausages and deli meats, keeping them for some days rather than every day.
Dairy and alternatives (milk, laban, yoghurt, labneh, cheese) provide protein and calcium for bones and teeth. If you use plant drinks, choose unsweetened ones fortified with calcium.
Plain, lower-fat yoghurt usually has no added sugar, which makes it an easy everyday choice. Flavoured yoghurts often contain added sugar.
Use unsaturated oils such as olive, rapeseed, sunflower or vegetable oil, and use them in small amounts.

A balanced GCC-style plate

Example lunch: a scoop of rice (brown or white, about a third of the plate), grilled fish or chicken (a quarter), a big fattoush or mixed salad with olive oil and lemon (about a third), and a glass of laban on the side.
Example dinner: lentil shorbat adas with wholemeal bread, a plate of cucumber, tomato and carrot sticks, and a bowl of plain yoghurt.
Example quick meal: a wholemeal wrap with falafel or grilled halloumi, plenty of salad and hummus, plus a piece of fruit.
You do not need to measure. Use your eye: half the plate colourful, a fist of starch, a palm of protein, with dairy somewhere in the day.
Eating well is about enjoying a range of foods, not about rules or how your body looks. If food, eating or body image ever feels stressful, talk to a doctor, school nurse or a trusted adult.

Practise in real life

Tick each one off when you have done it.

Take a photo of your lunch every day for three days. Compare each one to the Eatwell proportions and notice what you tend to have plenty of and what you tend to miss.
Add one extra portion of vegetables or fruit to one meal each day this week, for example a handful of cucumber slices at lunch or a banana at breakfast.
Next time rice is cooked at home, check how leftovers are stored: cooled and in the fridge within an hour, eaten within 24 hours.

Remember

Just over a third fruit and vegetables, just over a third starchy foods, smaller shares of protein and dairy, a little oil.
Balance is across the day or the week, not every plate.
Choose wholegrain starches and vary your protein, including fish twice a week.
High fat, salt and sugar foods are 'sometimes' foods, not forbidden ones.

Note: Portion visuals in the 'balanced GCC-style plate' section are practical rules of thumb based on the Eatwell proportions, not official NHS measurements. The 80g portion size is the adult figure.

Check yourself

1. According to the NHS Eatwell Guide, roughly how much of what you eat should be fruit and vegetables?

2. Which of these does NOT count towards your 5 A Day?

3. How many portions of fish a week does the NHS suggest?

4. You cooked rice for lunch and want to save the leftovers. What does the NHS advise?

5. What is the combined daily limit for fruit juice and smoothies?