Another useful tool which can be used to create a healthy meal plan is Harvard's School of Public Health Department of Nutrition's Healthy Living Pyramid which emphasizes the importance of exercise and weight control in combination with a diet focused on vegetables, fruits and whole grains complemented by healthy fats, proteins, and dairy products (21).
Base of the Pyramid
Exercise and weight control stresses to users that these are key "ingredients" to a healthy meal plan because they are essential in maintaining a healthy weight and therefore general health.
Second Tier
Vegetables and fruits: provide not only taste and color to the plate but also to protect against many chronic diseases.
Whole grains: serve to curb hunger and provide energy in a healthier way than carbohydrates packaged with higher glycemic index, thus preventing type 2 diabetes and possibly other chronic diseases.
Healthy fats and oils: we have learned they benefit the heart and other organ systems.
Third Tier
Nuts, seeds, beans, and tofu as well as fish, poultry, and egg to provide us with well-packaged proteins with the benefits of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats.
Fourth Tier
Dairy: 1-2 servings per day (or vitamin D and calcium supplements) to provide the body with calcium in a no-fat or low-fat way.
Top of the pyramid
Red meat, butter, refined grains, salt, sweets and potatoes should be "used sparingly." Red meats are discouraged secondary to increased amounts of saturated fats compared to other meats. Refined grains must be consumed only in moderation given their high glycemic index and consequent propensity to cause weight gain, diabetes and a host of other chronic diseases.
Alongside the pyramid
"Optional" additions: alcohol in moderation and a multivitamin which can be consumed as "insurance" for obtaining needed nutrients that might not have been obtained in the diet that day.