I love PCRM food plate for its sheer simplicity! Just four main food groups: Whole Grains, Beans, Fruits and Vegetables!

I like the ACLM food plate better: it has drawings of actual foods :) Interestingly, ACLM food plate can be conceptualized as two halved: LEFT and RIGHT.

The RIGHT half is essentially "Dal + Chawal" (In India, 'dal' = beans, peas, lentils, and 'chawal' = rice). So "Dal + Chawal" is basically a placeholder for any combination of Whole Grains & Beans, along with a few seeds (flax and chia are preferable because they have high Omega-3 to Omega-6 ratio, plus we may use a traditional seed mix like Pancha Phoron). We may garnish this preparation with some berries and fresh herbs or dried herbs. And we may add lime-lemon-vinegar too. By changing the whole grains & bean, we can create novel recipes every day! We can also prepare multi-grain and multi-bean recipes, for example, see BROL and SMOL recipes by Dr Greger.

The LEFT half is essentially a BIG rainbow-colored salad with a variety of vegetables, and some fruits and berries.

Question: Can we improve the overall nutrition profile of ACLM food plates with a shift to the LEFT — with a BIGGER salad and fewer whole grains and beans? Yes!

Drs Rick & Karin Dina: A Plant-Based Diet Makeover! (2021) by Dr Karin Dina (D.C.) is a fascinating article. She constructs 2 meal plans: "Original Diet" (with an emphasis on grains & beans) and "Makeover Diet" (with a shift in calories towards more fruits & vegetables, and less grains & beans). Let's study the breakfast, lunch and dinner plates that she constructs in her article:

ORIGINAL DIET (BREAKFAST) Oatmeal with apple, raisins, cinnamon, flax	MAKEOVER DIET (BREAKFAST) Fruit and Green Smoothie
Whole Grains: * Whole Oats (rolled): 2 Servings Fruits: * Apple (fresh, with skin): 1 medium * Raisins (2 TBSP) Nuts & Seeds: * Flax Seed Meal: 1 TBSP Herbs & Spices: * Cinnamon (ground) 1 tsp	Fruits: * Banana, fresh, 2 medium * Oranges, fresh, 2 medium * Mango, frozen, 1 cup Vegetables: * Kale, raw, 2 leaves

Nuts & seeds: Original Diet breakfast had nuts and seeds (1 tbsp flax meal); these were removed. In order to make our total intake of nuts & seeds across breakfast + lunch + dinner combined constant, nuts & seeds were introduced into dinner (see the Dinner section below).

Less whole grains (tortillas were discarded); replaced by fruits & veggies:

ORIGINAL DIET (LUNCH) Vegan Burritos	MAKEOVER DIET (LUNCH) Salad, dressing, steamed veggies, rice + beans
Whole Grains: * Sprouted grain tortillas x 2 * Brown rice, steamed, ½ cup Beans: * Black beans, cooked, ½ cup Vegetables: * Tomato, red, raw, 2 small Roma * Zucchini, raw, 1 large * Avocado, raw, California, ½	Whole Grains: * Brown rice, steamed, ½ cup Beans: * Black beans, cooked, ½ cup Vegetables: * Lettuce, romaine, ½ head * Tomato, red, raw, 4 small Roma * Zucchini, raw, 1 large * Avocado, raw, California, ½ * Kale, cooked from fresh, 1 cup * Cauliflower, cooked from fresh, 1.5 cups * Carrots, cooked from fresh, 1 cup

Less whole grains and beans (quinoa and chickpeas were halved in "Makeover Diet"); replaced by more fruits & veggies:

ORIGINAL DIET (DINNER) Steamed broccoli, quinoa, chickpeas	MAKEOVER DIET (DINNER) Large salad, dressing, steamed veggies, quinoa, chickpeas
Whole Grains: * Quinoa, cooked, 1 cup Beans: * Chickpeas, boiled without salt, 1 cup Vegetables: * Broccoli, cooked from fresh, 2 cups, chopped	Whole Grains: * Quinoa, cooked, ½ cup Beans: * Chickpeas, boiled without salt, ½ cup Vegetables: * Lettuce, romaine, ½ head * Tomato, red, raw, 2 small Roma * Carrots, raw, ½ cup * Zucchini, raw, ½ cup * Cucumber, raw, ½ cup * Celery, raw, 3 medium * Onion, white, etc. ¼ medium * Lemons, raw, ½ * Broccoli, cooked from fresh, 2 cups, chopped Nuts & Seeds: * Chia seeds, 1 TBSP * Walnuts, 1.5 TBSP

Total fat content was comparable in the two meal plans:

What happens to the nutrition profile when we boost Fruits & Vegetable intake and reduce Whole Grains & Beans intake? Let's see!

Micronutrients: The "Makeover Diet" had more micronutrients than the "Original Diet" — this shouldn't surprise us because fruits & veggies are packed with micronutrients.

Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs): Surprisingly, Omega-3 and Omega-6 also increased despite the two meal plans having comparable amounts of nuts & seeds. All those extra Omega-3's and Omega-6's were derived from various fruits & veggies in the "Makeover Diet". The Omega-3 : Omega-6 ratio also improved!

When we shift calories from whole grains & beans towards more salad (with fruits & veggies), our total food cost increases, our grocery shopping time increases, time spent in the kitchen (cleaning, chopping, mincing, ..) increases, and even our chewing time increases. But are such changes worthwhile from health perspective? The article by Dr Karin Dina (D.C.) shows how such a shift in calories may boost the micronutrient profile of our food plates!

In 2022, I watched interviews and presentations in Fruit and Vegetable Power Summit 2022 organized by Drs Rick and Karin Dina. I was influenced by their methodology and gravitated towards a raw vegan system with more fruits and vegetables in my diet. For more information, see their website Raw Food Education.

June '23 webinar: Drs Rick and Karin Dina had an insightful webinar in June '23. It's freely available at their website: Mastering Raw Food Nutrition; the June '23 webinar focused on "how to get calcium, iron and zinc through raw food plates?" (especially from fruits & veggie centric salads)? Pretty good insights!