I know yosenabe usually has meat, I was just looking at the photo and wondering where the protein, fat, and carbohydrates were going to come from.
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You don’t need protein and fat at every meal. And I think the little squares at the lower end are tofu, so the protein is there.
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For proper nutrition you need a healthy balance of protein, fat, and carbohydrates at every meal.
Every day, not every meal.
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I don’t have the background to know this for sure, but that ‘seems’ correct.
Every meal should have a balance. The notion that nutrition averages out over a day or week is from the era when people thought all calories were equal. For most people, unbalanced meals result in blood sugar spikes and crashes.
I’ve only skimmed this (twice) but can find the info re “every meal.” ???
This study is also based on the US suggested eating guidelines. It doesn’t take non-American eating habits into consideration.
For a different view, here’s the Japanese Dietetic Association’s guidelines to healthy eating. I’ll take their advice over the USDA’s advice any day.
http://www.dietitian.or.jp/english/health/
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Per-meal is implied by “plate.” The FAQ makes it explicit:
The Healthy Eating Plate shows consumers a generally healthy way to assemble a meal:
get plenty of produce choose whole grains choose healthy sources of protein use healthy oils drink water or other beverages that don't contain sugar.
It also suggests limiting consumption of refined grains, potatoes, sweets, sugary beverages, red meat, processed meats, and going easy on milk and juice. …
… Think of the Healthy Eating Plate as a guide to planning a healthy, balanced meal and serving it on a dinner plate—or packing it in a lunch box.
There’s a lot of great advice in there, but it’s out of date. It doesn’t distinguish between processed and whole grains, or between healthier and less healthy fats. It doesn’t warn of the danger of low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets, too much dairy, or artificial trans fats. It verges on criminally irresponsible not to warn diabetics to avoid white rice and count their carbs.
IMO, that “plate” is no more a plate than the “pyramid” is a pyramid.
But keep in mind that the Asian diet is quite different than ours. Heavy on veggies, and meat and carbs are an accompaniment. Soups are big. Very limited dairy/cheese. Smaller portions. Desserts are less sweet.
Diabetes is far less prevalent in Japan and China than here.
If so, they’re on track to catch up:
Oh come on now. There is nothing unhealthy or out of balance about that meal. I get taking a stand against the the demonization of fat, but being overly-critical of that plate is not a terribly strong position to be starting from. 
The position I’m starting from is that a healthy balance is 40% calories from fat, 35-40% from carbs (mostly low-gycemic-index), and 20-25% from protein.
I was going to ignore your comments, but frankly they upset me, @robert. Out of the thousands of meals that have been posted on Food Talk Central, I don’t understand why you feel the need to single out my nabe as an example of a “nutritionally unbalanced” meal and take some kind of patronizing tone. There’s plenty of protein in the tofu, a nice variety of vegetables, and lots of nutrients from the miso in the nabe broth. My carbs came from a bowl of rice as well as the carrots and daikon in the hot pot.
My parents are Japanese, and nabe is traditionally eaten during the winter, as it’s healthy, filling, and warming. If my parents had made this dish, there would be a very small amount of thinly-sliced meat in the hot pot.
My intention was simply to share a photo of what I was cooking that day. I was not expecting a critique of the soundness of my nutritional choices.
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SI didn’t hear it as a critique, simply a question; the conversation then segued into what people consider a “nutritious plate” of food to be.
Btw, my dinner tonight was three roasted baby beets and two supremed navel oranges, drizzled with about a tablespoon of olive oil and some vinegar. Not nearly as nutritious or balanced (or pretty) as yours.
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Don’t mind @robert.
He, like many, sometimes forget that the most important thing about a healthy meal is not just the ingredients on the plate, but the emotional response that those ingredients on the plate evoke in us.
If given the choice, I’d take emotional health over physical health.
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With miso and rice that seems like a meal.
Treating those as separate things is a good way to end up with neither.