Canada's 2019 Food Guide

​By now you may have had the chance to take a look at Canada’s new Food Guide for 2019. Maybe you’ve already formed your own opinion on it. Perhaps it has inspired you to make some changes in 2019, or maybe you’re just happy to keep eating the way you are.
Either way, I hope you’ll consider my thoughts on the new food guide.

But before I get started, I would just like to stress that as always, I never want to make someone feel uncomfortable, especially about what they eat. I say this because I know that when many people hear that I’m a nutritionist they somehow think they need to be on their ‘best behaviour’ in regard to their food choices, and that I would be disappointed, ashamed, offended etc. about the ‘unhealthy’ food choices they may have made recently. As a Registered Holistic Nutritionist™, my role is not to judge other peoples choices. I strongly uphold my commitment to educating others about healthy living by meeting them where they are at. I understand that everyone must walk their own path and make the decisions that feel right for them in that moment.
For that reason, my goal here is to simply to provide information so that you are reading can make informed choices when it comes to their nutrition. This is important because what you eat is up to you. What you eat affects you. And if you are trying to make decision to support your health, I want you to have the right information to base this on. 
Now, just one more thing before I get started. If you don’t agree with my take on the food guide, that’s just fine. However, please don’t disagree with me just because you hear something else you like better on social media. Disagree with me because you’ve done your own thorough research (meta analysis or systematic reviews of the literature), as this is what I’ve done to form the opinions I share with you here.
If you have not had a chance to review the 2019 Canada’s Food Guide here’s a brief overview. The guide is broken down into the following categories;

Food Choices
Eating Habits
Recipes
Tips
Resources
 
Today I’ll mostly be focusing on the first topic, ‘Food Choices’; I have no qualms with the statements they make under ‘Eating Habits’ and my thoughts on the recommendations for the following 3 categories fall much in line with what I discuss regarding the ‘Food Choices’ category.
 
So here are the recommendations;
 
Food Choices
Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits, whole grain foods and protein foods. Choose protein foods that come from plants more often.

• Choose foods with healthy fats instead of saturated fat

Limit highly processed foods. If you choose these foods, eat them less often and in small amounts.

• Prepare meals and snacks using ingredients that have little to no added sodium, sugars or saturated fat
• Choose healthier menu options when eating out

Make water your drink of choice

• Replace sugary drinks with water  

Use food labels
Be aware that food marketing can influence your choices
 
What I Love!

1. Recommendation regarding vegetables and proteins. They recommend eating plenty of vegetables & fruits, proteins & focusing on water for hydration. This is win-win-win! Vegetables and fruits provide us with a variety of vitamins, minerals and fibre that are vital to our overall health & vitality. While proteins are super important for building and maintaining muscle, bones, teeth, tendons & ligaments, skin and hair. Many important hormones and enzymes are also composed of proteins.

 

1. The focus on Water. Water is super important for so many things! Water helps deliver nutrients to our cells, helps regulate our temperature and appetite, helps your body detoxify by eliminating waste, lubricates your joints and so much more. Chronic dehydration is very common and can lead to a variety of health issues. Drinking more water is such as simple, but incredibly significant recommendation! Contrary to popular belief, fruit juice (even if it’s freshly squeezed at home) provides a whopping dose of sugar, without offering much in terms of nutrients. Water should definitely be your drink of choice.

 

1. Using Food Labels. This is also very important. Understand what goes into the packaged foods we consume is vital to our health. Although I recommend avoiding packaged foods whenever possible, I understand that most people do consume them somewhat regularly. When you do choose these items it is necessary to know how to scrutinize the labels to ensure you choose products that have simple, natural ingredients as much as possible.

 

1. Marketing and it’s influence on food choices. What a great issue to point out. This is so important, especially for the younger generation. We must teach them how to think for themselves, ask questions and not be so quick to believe what they see or hear on social media and television.

What I don’t Love
Issue # 1: whole grains. Whole grains are not required for a healthy diet; there’s not a single vitamin, mineral or even fibre that we can’t also obtain from vegetables and fruits (which are actually easier to obtain from veg & fruits). Additionally, grains (whole or refined) can actually be detrimental as they contain anti-nutrients that limit the absorption of nutrients, set off an immune response in the gut and can lead to systemic inflammation
 
Issue # 2: Plant protein. Plant protein is not superior to animal protein; plant proteins (beans, lentils, legumes, grains) also contain anti-nutrients, and are difficult for most people to digest, even when properly prepared. When you consider the nutrient density of plant proteins vs. animal protein, animal protein comes out on top every time
 
Issue # 3: Saturated Fats. Saturated fats (butter, cream, ghee, lard, tallow, eggs, coconut oil, fattier cuts of meat) are not the enemy, and have NOT, I repeat NOT, been shown to contribute to heart disease, and can (and should) be part of healthy diet. The fats/oils that we need to be avoiding are processed and/or industrial vegetable and seed oils (margarine, soybean oil, peanut oil, corn oil, safflower oil, canola oil, grapeseed oil, cottonseed oil, wheat-germ oil). These oils are heavily processed before they make it to your plate, using heat (leading to oxidation), chemicals, dyes and artificial flavour additives.
 
Issue # 4: This one may be considered splitting hairs, but I would prefer if they recommend avoiding processed foods instead of limiting highly processed foods. The reason I’m being picky is that processed foods are quite complex, and most people don’t know the difference between slightly processed and heavily processed. I think it’s better to encourage eating whole foods as much as possible, therefore you don’t even have to worry about ‘ingredients’ because your ingredients are real, whole foods. On the occasion that you do chose a packaged food, don’t eat anything that has ingredients that you don’t recognize as real food (this ties in with my point about knowing how to read a nutrition label).
 
So there you have it!
Canada’s food guide has definitely come a long way and has drastically improved in 2019! I can only imagine how Canadians’ health would improve over the next year if they were to follow this new guide!
 
When it comes down to it, my recommendation is always simply this;

EAT REAL FOOD!