Proper nutrition has the power to prevent and improve modern health conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, vascular disease, and obesity.
That’s why the RENEW nutrition plan is structured after a plant-focused Mediterranean lifestyle, which has decades of sound research to support this lifestyle as the way to live a healthier, longer life. This looks like filling your plate with nutritious foods such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts, and seeds.
Plants are the stars of the show! Animal products are the supporting cast.
The RENEW Plate Method
To easily apply this nutrition plan and eat the right portions, we will be using the Mediterranean version of The Plate Method shown below. The Plate Method is one of the easiest and most effective tools since it uses visual cues instead of counting calories or lugging out a food scale.
We’ll dive more into this method throughout the program. For now, notice how the plate is divided. How does your typical plate compare? Where is there room for improvement?
The RENEW Food Guidelines
We aim to simplify nutrition into actionable steps that improve a variety of chronic conditions. Over the course of the next 10 weeks, work on building these habits into your everyday life.
Start from the bottom and work your way up or pick the step that seems most doable to you and start there. Small, incremental changes that become hardwired into habits have the best chance of sticking around for good.
Adapted from The Blue Zones Food Guidelines
What About Treats?
There’s room for treats (not cheats) in everyone’s life!
Diets, restriction, and labeling food as “good” or “bad” doesn’t lead to long-term success. Lifelong success comes from practicing moderation and learning to choose our treats with intention. Visit the Treat List for more information.
Are you making every bite count? MyPlate. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22, 2022, from https://www.myplate.gov/
Buettner, D. (2010). The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest. National Geographic Society.
Intechnic, http://www.intechnic.com. (2020, February 1). What is the diabetes plate method? Diabetes Food Hub. Retrieved March 22, 2022, from https://www.diabetesfoodhub.org/articles/what-is-the-diabetes-plate-method
Program guidelines