Veg out, Canada’s new food guide advises

Revision of nutrition booklet targets sedentary lifestyles with more fruits, vegetables and grains.
Eat your fruit and veggies — and plenty of them.
That advice is the cornerstone of the new Canada’s Food Guide, the first update since 1992 and the first guide to include targeted advice for men and women at various stages of life.
Introduced in 1942 as Canada’s Food Rules, the guide was government’s way of helping people maximize their nutrition during war-time rationing. It has been updated several times since, but this version, released last month, marks Health Canada’s response to growing concerns related to a more sedentary yet fast-paced society that too often eschews nutrition in favour of speed.
“Health Canada really wants to place an emphasis on the valuable nutrition we get from fruits and vegetables,” said Gerry Kasten, public health community nutritionist. The guide recommends women 19 to 50 years old eat seven to eight servings of fruit and vegetables daily, and for men of the same age to eat eight to 10 servings.
But that’s far from the only change.
A glance at the guide’s brightly coloured graphic depiction of a balanced diet takes into account busy lifestyles — it includes products such as packaged fresh spinach, frozen vegetables and canned items — as well as broadened culinary horizons. Flat breads and pita, couscous, bulgur, kefir and legumes are included, as are soy milk and tofu.
“We’ve changed the milk products group to milk and milk alternatives,” Kasten explained, “because many alternatives to milk are being used these days, such as fortified soy beverages, and cultured and fermented products like yogurt and kefir.”
Anybody who recalls the old food guide and its confusing recommendations for “five to 12 servings” will appreciate the clarity on appropriate, gender-specific servings for pre-schoolers, toddlers, teenagers, women of childbearing age and those over 50.
There are also recommendations on oils and fats — to include a small amount of unsaturated fat, avoid trans fats and to limit hard margarine and shortening. Portion sizes are given in metric and Imperial measurements.
And whether you’re eating at home, school, work or at a restaurant, keep the following tips in mind:
n Eat at least one dark green (broccoli) and one orange (carrots) vegetable each day;
n Have vegetables and fruit more often than juice;
n Make at least half your grain products whole grain (brown rice, whole wheat pasta);
n Drink milk or fortified soy milk every day for adequate vitamin D;
n Have meat alternatives (beans, lentils, tofu) often;
n Eat at least two servings of fish each week (salmon, trout);
n Select lean meat and alternatives prepared with little or no added fat or salt;
n And satisfy your thirst with water.
While Canada isn’t the first country to use its food guide to encourage an active lifestyle, Kasten said it is the first to add the caveat that people should feel good about themselves — an important component to healthy living.
The new food guide also is the first of the digital age. Health Canada’s website features cooking advice as well as tips on how to make healthy decisions at the grocery store, how to decipher a nutrition label — even a customizable My Food Guide.
Check out healthcanada.gc.ca.