How the ‘perfect’ healthy plate has changed since the 1970s
Food quality, fibre and the overall pattern of our diet is now considered more important than single nutrients. Wholegrains and healthy fats, like omega-3 rich salmon steaks are in, while ultra-processed foods, including diet ready meals are the enemy; less healthy plate, more naughty step. To some extent we’ve come full circle, as good old-fashioned home cooking is rightfully celebrated.
Kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi are also popular; fermented foods hardly figured in healthy diets until recently. While discussed in dietetic circles since the 1980s, it’s taken nearly 40 years for the gut microbiome to go mainstream.
“We called it the colonic microflora, but it’s now called the microbiome and it has become quite a mysterious entity,” says Grimble.
Now we know that fermented foods offer a range of health benefits.
“We’ve come along way from when Ski yogurt was introduced in 1963,” says Grimble.
Otherwise, the same healthy plate principles still hold as in 2016, with the major difference being a focus on a variety of micronutrients. The 30-a-week principle has seen us sprinkling nuts and seeds on our plates and experimenting with lentils and tofu.
“We’ve moved away from obsessing over single nutrients and towards patterns that protect heart, gut and metabolic health. The modern ‘perfect plate’ is fibre-rich, plant-focussed and still flexible enough to fit real life, including the likes of frozen veg, tinned pulses and quick wholegrain options. Healthy eating in 2025 is about patterns, not perfection: more plants, fewer free-sugars, moderate healthy fats and food that fits your culture, budget and schedule,” says Ludlam-Raine.
Concern about sugar now extends to worry about ultra-processed foods, in particular their effect on satiety.
Tins and frozen, however, have had a comeback: “We now recognise that frozen and tinned (in their own water/ juice, and with no added sugar or salt) are budget and time-friendly wins,” she adds.
After decades of the low-fat mantra dominating our diets there’s also been a decided back track.
Full-fat milk is no longer the “no no” it once was. While it has a higher saturated-fat content, there are positives in terms of satiety.
“Cows’ milk in general is quite beneficial,” says Grimble. “Number one, it’s a carrier of a lot of iodine, of which we’re marginally deficient in the UK.”
He also states that research, meta-analyses and systematic reviews indicate that saturated fats are problematic, but not very problematic. “Certainly not as problematic as trans fats, which have been consigned to the dustbin. You should reduce them but they’re not hugely risky.”
Indeed, recent studies have shown that certain dairy products, including cheese, may have a neutral or even protective effect on cardiovascular health, despite their saturated fat content.
He is unconvinced by a fully plant-based approach. “Our guts are designed so that we are omnivores,” he explains. “So there’s quite a lot of room for the diet to adapt to more or less meat. However vegans are too strict. It really is an exclusionary diet and most of those have problems. Plant-based protein such as soya is not bad, but it’s not as good as beef or milk.”
Yaqoob doesn’t entirely agree regarding saturated fats, and says: “Recently some people have been arguing saturated fats are not bad, but there is quite a lot of evidence stacked against them over time.”
Grimble would welcome a return of some of our 1970s staples.
“Butter isn’t as bad as it’s been made out,” he says. “And potatoes are wonderful. The problem with potatoes is that you have to cook them, and I think it’s factors like that that have had an impact on the way people eat.”
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