Canada’s Food Guide has been kicking around – in one form or another – for more than 75 years. You’ve probably got an old one stuffed inside your kitchen junk drawer or posted on your fridge, behind layers of take-out menus.
Its latest incarnation, which Health Canada says took several years to research and compile, aims not only to give people simple advice on the foods we should be eating, but also to help us develop better food habits.
In keeping with the times, it’s no longer only a stand-alone printed guide. There’s now a swath of online resources, including recipes, videos, meal-planning tips and customized advice for people at different life stages.
The new guide also looks different. The food group rainbow has been replaced by a single plate or “food guide snapshot” depicting an ideal meal: it’s half filled with vegetables and fruits, with the other side split equally between whole grains and proteins. Beside the plate is a glass of water.
With the mantra of “eat a variety of healthy foods each day,” the guide now has three food groups: vegetables and fruits, whole grains, and protein foods. Health Canada eliminated the old “milk and alternatives” and “meat and alternatives” food groups and combined them into the new protein category.
Also gone are the old (and confusing, many people would say) serving sizes, replaced by a new focus on finding balance when you fill your plate. If that worries you, relax. Part two of the guide, which should be published later this year, will explain the type and amount of foods to eat daily.
Here are some highlights:
Choose more plant-based protein
You can get protein from a variety of sources – not just from meat. The guide suggests choosing plant-based proteins more often; these provide more fibre and less saturated fat, which makes them healthier for your heart. Think about nuts and seeds, beans and lentils, fortified soy beverages, tofu, soybeans and other soy products.
Drink more water
A mainstay of the old guide, fruit juice has been kicked out. The new guide recommends replacing it and other sugary drinks (including chocolate milk) with water. Water is essential for digestion, keeps you hydrated and quenches your thirst. And having it as your first beverage of choice can help reduce your daily sugar intake.
The new guide also suggests limiting energy drinks containing caffeine, as well as alcoholic beverages and specialty teas and coffees that have added sugar and dairy.
Eat more mindfully
The guide is as much about how to eat as what to eat, and touts “mindful eating” as the ultimate goal. Standing at your kitchen counter eating olives from the jar while staring at your smartphone (cue the handy new section on food marketing) doesn’t make the cut.
Mindful eating means being more thoughtful about eating overall: eating slowly and savouring each bite, paying attention to your feelings of hunger and fullness, and having a healthy attitude toward food.
It’s all about enjoying the ritual of food and taking the time to make your meals memorable. That can include creating a positive eating environment, eating and sharing food with others, and trying new foods, which Health Canada hopes will translate into people making better food choices.
Will the new Canada Food guide inspire you to re-think how you eat? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Comments
Submitted By: Jimmy Wells
It is great to see Doctors Nova Scotia provoking thought on the revised Canada Food Guide, that is based on the best science, currently available. Industry funded, skewed science, with questionable research and influenced results was not included in this science. Personally, the revised Canada Food Guide will not inspire me to re-think how I eat or revise my eating habits as my plate has been built predominately on minimally processed fruit and vegetables, whole grains, and lentils. Gone from my plate went processed foods, plus all the dairy and meat products, the sources of saturated fat, the saturated fat that that they now advise Canadians to avoid. I find starches such as Potatoes, Brown Rice Whole Grain Pastas, the base of my healthy plate to be about the cheapest food available to buy in supermarkets. Further, I find that frozen vegetables, dry beans, chick peas, lentils, and canned tomatoes are relatively inexpensive. Results of my diet change that I instituted about six years ago have been impressive. I transitioned from a sickly, obese, regularly medicated, sedentary 59 year old man, living on borrowed time, to a much healthier, energetic person taking no meds regularly, with an in normal range BMI for the first time in my life. AFTER this change in my body, I used the energy gain and then added exercise, particularly some running, participating in my 1st run just as I turned 63. Last run season, in my 65th year, I completed 38 organized, mostly timed, run events here in Nova Scotia. Personally, I believe that folks who are inspired to follow the revised new Canada Food Guide will both reverse and prevent chronic diseases, plus address the obesity and overweight epidemic that we are currently in.
Submitted By: Jackie Clements
I love the new guidelines …… mainly because they encourage all of my favourite foods, no longer will I be criticized for not wanting meat, junk foods etc! At 78 years of age have never had a weight problem and, other than a more recent autoimmune problem have be healthy and active. I do (and always have) give myself a “treat” now and then! Perhaps an ice cream sundae or “fish n chips” ….. but they are just that “treats” on an occasional basis! Love water and enjoy herbal teas if various flavours as hot lemon tea! Am going to look at the recipes, etc and find some new ideas! I personally believe this way of eating is far more economical than loading up on cans and packages of foods salt and preservatives in muchof those. If you cannot get fresh fruit and veggies, go for frozen! I always freeze enough blueberries in Summer to last us through the Winter. Tomatoes freeze well for soups n stews, peppers freeze well top!