Only one protein and one carb type per meal

[LAvortonDeLaLitière]

I saw a hospital nutritionist last month for healthy eating/weight loss advice. Nothing very dramatic, it was all about tweaking what I eat. But, she did say that you shouldn't have more than one protein type per plate, and the same for carbs. So, for example, you shouldn't have potatoes and bread at the same meal, chicken shouldn't be wrapped in ham etc.....
I accepted this at face value and left but am now feeling a bit confused - so no omelette with ham or cheese, no spaghetti bolognaise with bacon etc .....
Has anyone else been given this advice, and has it worked? I would love to do some reading about it so any links would be great. Thanks.

Not having double carbs make sense, the protein bit is a bit odd, unless it’s to say don’t have a steak and a chicken breast. I guess bacon in bolognaise is no benefit nutrient wise, but does just add extra fat/calories so kind of makes sense. A bit of ham for flavour, allowing you to reduce the amount of cheese and calories in an omelette, would be fine I’m sure.
Maybe she was saying it in a way to reduce portion sizes in general?

Portion sizes of protein foods
There are generally no set portion sizes for protein foods but to get the right balance of foods for a healthy diet, we suggest eating 2-3 portions of protein foods (beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins) and 2-3 portions of dairy and alternative foods a day. Some examples of portion sizes for adults shown below. For more information on healthy portion sizes read our 'Get portion wise!' page.
https://www.nutrition.org.uk/healthy-sustainable-diets/protein/?level=Consumer

As this is hospital advice specifically advice for someone seeking to lose weight I'm assuming you have a lot of weight to lose. So presumably these restrictions are to help in that journey. By restricting multiple proteins you are keeping your meals very simple and easy to control calories

I can’t find much online about it. I would ask the nutritionist to clarify why.

I’d assume it’s because people don’t tend to reduce their portion of the other carbohydrate or protein and, so, it’s easier to focus on the right amount. Equally, lots of people won’t religiously weigh everything, so working out calories by portion size becomes simpler when reducing what’s included in the meal. Eg. Knowing a piece of meat should be the size of a packet of playing cards. However, it’s tricky for us to say as there may have been a specific part of the conversation or health issue you have that led the nutritionist to give the advice and we don’t know what was said in the appointment. For example, if you said you often ate out or struggled to weigh food or listed lots of meals on a food diary that had increased portion size and/or calories because they included two or more foods in the same group.

My personal experience would be that my family eat relatively healthily and we don’t tend to have two proteins or two carbs with a meal. So, we wouldn’t generally add bacon to spaghetti bolognaise or add chicken and ham to a pie or have pasta and garlic bread - it would tend to be one or the other. We do usually have more than a single vegetable type per meal. Obviously there are some meals (like scrambled egg) where you tend to add a dash of milk, so you could clarify that. However, comparing probably isn’t that useful because it’s specific weight loss advice. I’d assume it’s the type of advice which helps to give a focus and make it easier to make a simple meal while reducing overall calories.

I reckon it's some kind of magical mumbo jumbo about food types contaminating the purity of each other.

The only logic to it is if people literally don't reduce the portion sizes, as PP said.

Taking bacon out the bolognese is definitely healthier. I've never had bolognese and thought "wish this had bacon in it"
I thought cheese would be considered dairy but removing ham from an omlette is definitely healthier.

Seems to make sense to me tbh

The carbs make sense. The protein is probably because people tend to overeat protein. It’s a way of simplifying you menus, so it’s easier to manage. You can always replace the “extra” protein with vegetables. And it’s worth considering what protein you get in your breakfast, which can be lacking. You could always have an omelette with mushrooms etc. I wouldn’t put bacon in a bolognese.

She may be saying that based on what you described you were eating.

A skinless chicken breast is a lean Healthy option. Once you put cheese and bacon on it (hunters chicken) or stuff it with cheese and roll it in ham, it no longer is.

Bolognese made with 5% fat mince is a healthy choice. Add lardons and sprinkle cheese on it and it no longer is.

Perhaps it was advice to help you avoid gilding the lilly.

I would have thought the carbs one was obvious- lasagne and chips or garlic bread, pizza and chips or garlic bread…
Bread and butter with fish and chips- I think we must have adopted these pairings when people did a lot of manual labour- whether in the home or in the fields/mines. Basically almost everyone is sedentary now.

Thanks all, yes the carbs felt completely logical to me, and not something I am prone to anyway, with the possible exception of garlic bread and pasta.
It was the protein that has left me scratching my head a bit but I will follow the rules til I next see her and then ask for more clarity. She has set me a target of losing a stone in 6 weeks, and then I need to lose a second stone after that.

And thanks for the link @SonOfAGoodStrongWoman , really excellent information.

Totally agree with all that @pickledandpuzzled has said.
I think adding bread to a meal (especially garlic bread which is basically bread slathered in butter) is just habit and adds no value to the meal. The multiple protein habit seems to happen a lot in America where many people consume vast amounts of cheese and milk alongside their food. (Eg chilli with cheese and sour cream). Similarly Indian food - don’t have rice AND naan - choose one of the other.
This approach sounds like a good one to break long term habits - just to help you reframe your thinking at mealtimes.

Sounds straightforward enough. If you’re trying to lose weight, cutting bacon out of your bolognaise is an easy fix and I’d go for omelettes without cheese. Beans on toast not beans and cheese etc. It’s a simple way of cutting calories from each meal.

I take it you've never met an actual dietician? It's science based and NHS backed only, nothing to do with magical thinking or special contaminations.

Beans on toast not beans and cheese etc.

Baked beans have more carbohydrate in them than protein (and not much fat) so this probably over-simplistic rule breaks down.

Why is having half a piece of bread in the same meal with one baked small potato so bad? (2 x carb)

Or one biscuit and half a banana for pudding (2x carb)

Or (same calorie total) one tangerine & one whole banana for pudding (2xcarb)

Or one piece of bacon and one small sausage. (2 x protein)

Or half a bagel with cream cheese with milk in your tea (2 x protein)

or one pig in a blanket with bacon laid over (2x protein)

Or the pig in blanket with both pastry and a dollop of mashed potatoes (2x carb)

@lljkk presumably OP is seeing this dietician due to significant health and weight issues. It's about controlling intake of calories, portion control, healthy eating, avoidance of disordered eating etc.

Pigs in blankets are not necessities in a diet. They are an extra.

I imagine because they’ve been referred to weight loss for health reasons and so different guidance is put in place. Equally, not many people would have half a slice of bread - they’d have a slice of bread. They wouldn’t often have one pig in blanket etc. Also, lots of the food that tends to be eaten as a double is often quite unnecessary. For example, lasagne and garlic bread. Things like sausages don’t need extra calories, meat and salt added by wrapping in bacon. Yes, for a healthy person at a normal weight, a portion of one-off pigs in blankets isn’t a big deal, but this advice is centred around weight loss. It’s actually also quite an easy focal point, so the thinking about one protein or one carbohydrate would get you thinking prior to eating a meal about what you’re aiming at etc.

Pizza has carb...so,with salad only I'd say ..no chips !

And so does lasagne. Neither chips or garlic bread with that.

Learning to moderate Portion size is more sustainable and effective than believing one slice of pizza + 4 chips = bad but 1 huge whole pizza = fine, since the latter is "only one type of carb". Multiple types of carb isn't actually a problem.

Perhaps she was thinking of it as a simple way of not overeating too many calories ie measured amounts of protein and carbs but fill your plate up with veg .

@Lulu1919 and @Pacifybull absolutely, and at home we have with salad. Much to my menfolks’ disgust. They are often served with both, so triple.

Probably. And if it's something the OP can stick to which results in better food choices overall (one 'carb', one 'protein'... the rest has got to be lots of veg and fruit) then fine.

But for most people it's unnecessary. The other day we ate out, I had a chicken supreme served with green veg and 'butter bean, mushroom' stew - which included lardons - some people might see that as 'three proteins, no carbs' whereas really it was quite nicely balanced. The bacon was for flavouring, the chicken wasn't huge and I'm sure it was a lot healthier (as well as tastier) than chicken, veg and a pile of mash.

I don't think it is two types as much as 2 portions.
Lasagne and chips : no
Salmon fillet and steak fillet: no
Portion of mash with normal and sweet potato mix: OK
1 chicken breast and 1 portion lentils between 2: OK

Likewise.
It makes so much sense I'm struggling to understand how anyone thinks it doesn't make sense! 😆