We are always looking to improve our diets either in some small way or drastically by moving towards better nutrition. Whether it’s having healthier options or reduced consumption of certain foods and beverages, it can be difficult to actually take action. Part of the reason is that many people don’t know where to start or what exactly constitutes a healthy diet. A good place to start is the national food guide.

Being a Canadian, I am taking a look at the Canada food guide https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/, specifically the newest guide released in 2019 and the changes it entails. A notable shift in this guide is moving away from the food industry recommendations and reports which can be and are usually biased.

Reduced food groups: The number of food groups in Canada’s Food Guide has slowly been reduced since its inception. The most recent reduction was in 1977 when there were four main food groups:

• Milk and milk products
• Meat and alternatives
• Bread and cereals
• Fruits and vegetables

In the latest Canada’s Food Guide – 2019, the main food groups have been reduced to three groups:

• Vegetables and fruits
• Protein foods
• Whole grain foods

The vegetables and fruits group is more or less unchanged. Meat and alternatives have now been combined with milk and milk products in a new protein food group. The bread and cereals group is now known as whole grain foods, stressing consuming whole grains over the previous recommendation to make only half of your whole grain products. Plant-based proteins, such as beans, nuts, or soy products, are emphasized for protein foods since they have more fiber and less saturated fat.

Emphasis on Plant-Based Foods: The guide recommends eating plenty of vegetables, fruits, whole grain foods, and protein-rich foods, with an emphasis on plant-based proteins. This shift underscores a move towards sustainability and health.

Encouragement to drink water: In addition to the food groups, Canada’s Food Guide now recommends making water your drink of choice. Previously, no drink was formally recommended. Water is explicitly mentioned now because it is important for your health, it quenches your thirst and it helps you stay hydrated without the calories. Though water is identified as a drink that you should choose, several other choices are listed as being healthy, including unsweetened lower-fat milk, unsweetened fortified plant-based beverages such as soy or almond beverages, and unsweetened coffee or tea.

Recommendation to avoid processed foods: Instead of just having recommendations of what foods to eat for nutritional value, Canada’s Food Guide now overtly recommends what foods should be avoided. Foods to avoid include processed and prepared foods. Processed foods are foods that are canned, cooked, frozen, dried, or processed in some other way to extend preservation. Prepared foods are foods prepared in restaurants or in a similar way. One of the reasons that processed and prepared foods are not recommended is to limit the intake of sodium, sugars, and saturated fat.

Proportion-Based Eating: Instead of focusing on serving sizes, the guide uses a plate model where half the plate should be vegetables and fruits, a quarter whole grains, and a quarter protein.

Healthy Eating Patterns: It encourages cooking more often, eating meals with others, enjoying food, and being mindful of food marketing influences.

By being mindful of your eating habits, you can judge the amount that you should consume by being mindful of when you have had enough. By cooking yourself, you can control and reduce your intake of sodium, sugars, and saturated fat. By enjoying your food, you can appreciate the traditions behind the food and culture. By eating with others, you can try new healthy foods and share food traditions. Canada’s Food Guide recognizes that food is more than something you consume. It is also a social activity that ties people together.

Avoidance of Industry Influence: The development of the guide was noted for excluding industry-commissioned reports, aiming to reduce conflicts of interest.

Visual Representation: The new guide moved away from the traditional rainbow to a plate model, which was seen as a more intuitive way to depict balanced meal planning.

Cultural Considerations: While not directly mentioned in the guidelines, posts, and discussions around the guide’s release highlighted its inclusivity, suggesting it’s adaptable across different cultural eating patterns within Canada.

Public and Expert Reception: When it was released, the guide received positive feedback for its simplicity, environmental considerations, and being free of industry bias. Nutritionists and health experts praised it for focusing on how to eat, not just what to eat, emphasizing the importance of cooking, eating with others, and being aware of food marketing.

The Canada Food Guide is an excellent recommendation for how to engineer your daily diet lifestyle. The changes in the guide speak volumes about the importance of this subject, why it is important to ignore the food industry’s attempts to influence us, and why we must make our own informed decisions about our health.

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