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For many years now the Canadian food guide has been helping people of all age groups to come up with healthier food choices. In the last couple of years Health Canada, which is responsible for maintaining healthy habits, has formulated a revised edition of this essential source of information. Many physicians, dietitians, scientists and nutrition experts provided comments with details from the most up-to-date scientific breakthroughs with regards to the prevention of disease and nutrition deficiencies. Can I get more benefits from the new Canadian food guide?

First, let’s take a brief look on the history of this guide.
The first guide was initially presented to the general public during July 1942. During this time it recognized rationing of food items in wartime, whilst seeking to minimize the risk of deficiencies in nutrition and improve the general health of the population. From the initial launch, this guide was modified several times to adopt new look, names and messages, however it still maintain its original function of providing guidance for healthy food choices and encouraging nutritional wellness for everyone.

What are the differences between the guides?
The latest guide provides a number of recommendations on the quantity and types of food items that a person must eat daily in accordance with gender and age group. Additionally, it’s possible to get good suggestions to participate in physical activities that will be beneficial for maintaining excellent health.

Even though there are some similarities such as the rainbow, there is no doubt that you will notice one major difference as the new guide is currently showing fruit and vegetables group on the outer section of the food pyramid. The rationale behind this is to highlight the important role that these foods should play in your daily diet if you are eating the suggested servings and want to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

The guide which was introduced in previous years provided general suggestions about the amount of portions from all the food groups, documenting that individuals must eat 5 to 12 servings of grain products; 5 to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables and 2 to 3 servings of meat along with its alternatives daily. While milk products were included, this only provided recommendations for specific age groups. However, the latest version will not only give suggestions about how many servings based on the different age groups, but also includes details on the amount of portions that children require at 2 to 3 years old. When it comes to adolescents and adults, you will find that the recommendations currently include information for specific gender.

An additional difference is that this new guide provides advice for consumers to choose the best food items. The following are some of the stated information:

• Ensure that one orange and dark green vegetable is consumed daily.
• Fruits and vegetables must be consumed even more than juice, without added salt, sugar and fat.
• When including grain products in your diet plan, 50% of the amount consumed must be whole grain items.
• Your intake of milk is now referred to as milk and alternatives on the food group and should include fortified soy drinks.
• The recommend amount of milk daily is two cups in order to ensure sufficient Vitamin D and this should be milk and alternative products with lower fat content.

The recommended servings for meat and alternatives food group is now modified to include 75 g rather than 50 to 100 g, plus a lot more concentration on alternatives like tofu, lentils and beans and a suggested servings for two fish weekly.
It’s important to note that the examples provided for regular servings in all the food group now represents a diverse selection of ethnic Canadian foods.

As mentioned before, you will discover a few new divisions providing advice particularly on:
Nutritional suggestions for the growth of children at different age groups as well as recommendations on the amount of iron, calories and folic acid women need when they are thinking of conceiving, if they are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Suggested amount of Vitamin D supplements that women and men require over 50 years old.
The amount of fat intake required daily with focus on saturated, unsaturated and Trans fat.
Tips on the kinds of beverages and foods that should be limited in daily diet, as well as recommendations with physical activities for persons at different ages

Suggestions on how to read nutrition labels when choosing food products to ensure that selection includes less fats, sodium and sugar.

In general, this up-to-date guide is actually enhanced to provide consumers with products which make it simpler and easier to get a feel of what is right for the different gender and age groups, as well as give much better details about serving sizes. As a result, the document is even bigger compared to the earlier version which was only one page, nevertheless it now contains significantly more details that will help you to select healthier food choices and will be less complicated to read.

This is a great way to ensure that you and your family can select food and design diet plans that is filled with the appropriate minerals, vitamins and any other nutrient requires to minimize health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

Additionally, the following suggestions were formulated to give you help and advice when selecting the different food items based on the modeling of consistent information from the actual assessment of documented interactions with foods and life-threatening illnesses. To put it simpler terms, here is a breakdown of the suggestions provided on the food guide:

Select fruit and vegetables prepared without added sugar, salt or fat.
Consume a minimum of one orange and dark green vegetable daily.

Your daily intake of grain products should include at the very least 50% whole grains.

• Include more fruit and vegetables instead of juice.
• Drink 1 or 2% of skim milk daily.
• Select grain products with lower salt, sugar or fat content.
• Include meat alternatives like lentils, tofu and beans on a regular basis.
• Choose milk alternatives with low fat.
• Have a minimum of two servings of fish weekly.
• Incorporate a little bit of unsaturated fat, preferably 2 to 3 Tbsp or 30 to 45 ml daily.
• Choose lean meats and alternatives items prepared without salt or fat.

In conclusion, if you are thinking that your lifestyle is too hectic to eat properly then you definitely should change your thinking and follow the new Canadian food guide to enjoy many benefits. In the end you can improve your overall health; maintain good body weight; reduce your risk of major diseases; boost energy and feel and look even better.