Remember the pyramid of food that you were to follow to keep healthy according to the Canada Food Guide? Well, it’s been reviewed and it’s had some changes.
It represents the latest, science-based thinking on what to include in a healthy diet and what to avoid, and in some ways is a radical shift from the previous food guide released in 2007.
The new guide was released Tuesday after years of consultation and discussion with almost everyone — except the food industry.
Here are Health Canada’s 5 keys to a healthy diet:
-Eat vegetables, fruit, whole grains and protein regularly.
-Among protein foods, eat plant-based options — like beans, nuts, and tofu — more often.
-Choose foods high in unsaturated fat, like avocados and peanut butter, over saturated fats, like meat and cheese.
-Choose water over pop, fruit juice, alcohol or flavoured milk.
-Choose home-cooked over processed foods.
Picture featured on Canada’s Food Guide Website
Also, the guide no longer includes how many servings of different foods to include in a day’s menu, but rather urges people to eat more of some things and less of others.
The goal of the newly released diet is to reduce chronic diseases like ischemic heart disease, stroke, colorectal cancer, diabetes, and breast cancer, which are particularly affected by what you eat.
“The bottom line is that what we’ve done is to base our recommendations on solid, scientific evidence. That’s it. That’s what drives us,” says Hasan Hutchinson, the Director General of the Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion at Health Canada. “We made a strong commitment to not meet or be influenced by industry or (use) reports funded by industry.”
For more information on the Food Guide, please visit the Government of Canada’s website ‘
