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There is a new and updated food guide released by Health Canada which is the first one after decades and this is providing current information for people who want help to live and eat healthy. If you have a busy lifestyle and want to ensure that your family is provided with the required nutrients, continue reading this article to get help in understanding the suggestions provided on the Canadian dietary guidelines.

These suggestions seek to encourage everyone to place more emphasis on fruits, vegetables and whole grains, plenty liquid, as well as to incorporate meat, milk and their alternatives into their daily diet. However, there is a limitation on food items with fat, salt, sugar and high calories. This new guide was formulated following discussions with more than 7,000 experts in nutrition, which includes scientists, dietitians, researchers and doctors. In fact the department with responsibility for the health of the nation is presently promoting Vitamin D supplements for persons who are older than 50.

Here are some tips provided in the food guide for choosing items from the different food groups:

Fruits and Vegetables
These food items can be classified as nature’s best fast food, as it is easy to wash and have while you are on the move. There are numerous kinds to select from and countless ways that you can prepare them to make delicious meals. However, the food guide serving suggests half cup fresh, canned or frozen vegetables or one medium fruit daily.
Suggestions:
Select frozen fruits which are unsweetened or prepared in juice. Note that fruits in heavy syrup will have more calories and sugar.
Select vegetables, fresh or frozen and free of rich or breading sauces.
Try to find canned vegetables which contain lower sodium content or perhaps the rinse and drain ones.

Meat and its alternative products
According to the servings on the food guide, you will only need 75 g or 2 ½ oz of fish, meat and poultry; 175 ml or ¾ cup of cooked beans; 2 eggs or 2Tbsp of peanut butter to eat healthy.

Suggestions:
Include meat alternatives like beans, tofu and lentils in your diet.

Try to eat a minimum of two servings of fish weekly.
Select fish which includes mackerel, char, salmon, herring, trout and sardines. It’s advisable to avoid fish with too much mercury.
Opt for lean meat and substitutes which are cooked with little if any salt or fat. Ensure that you remove all skins from poultry and trim fats from your meats.

Make use of food preparation techniques like baking, roasting or poaching as these require less fat.
When you are eating sausages, luncheon or prepackaged meats, look for the ones with lower fat and sodium content.

• Milk and its alternative products
• These simple suggestions from the food guide will enable you to eat healthy:
• Try to drink 1 or 2 % skim milk daily.
• Include two cups or 500 ml of milk in your daily diet to get sufficient Vitamin D.
• If you cannot drink milk, then you can select fortified soy drinks as an alternative.
• Choose the milk alternatives with low fat content.
• Cheese and yogurts can be included in your diet, but it’s important to examine the nutrition facts to make smart choices.

Oils and Fats
The following is the suggested amount and types of fat that you can include in your diet:
When you are eating food with unsaturated fat, you will only need about 2 – 3 Tbsp or 30 to 45 ml daily. This particular amount should include cooking oil, mayonnaise, margarine and salad dressings.
Some of the unsaturated organic oils consist of corn, canola, flaxseed, peanut, olive, sunflower and soybean. However, you should lower the amount of shortening, lard, hard margarine and butter.

Beverages
Minimize your consumption of carbonated drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks, punches, fruit drinks, alcohol and all sweetened beverages, whether hot or cold. All of these liquids are generally full of calories and lacking in nutrients.
Most beverages might include high levels of caffeine. So, it’s important to pay attention to the ingredients, as stimulants included can affect small children a lot more than adults. Some of the beverages include coffee, colas, tea and certain energy drinks.
Water should always be your number one beverage. The food guide recommends fruit juice, milk and fortified soy drinks as healthy choices to include in your diet daily.

In addition to choosing the above mentioned food items for daily consumption, the Canadian dietary guidelines also provide advice intended for people in different stages and ages of life. This is important as everyone will have specific nutrition needs. The following advice targets children, male and female over 50 and women who in childbearing age groups.

Children
When younger children are eating the appropriate types and amount food as suggested in the food guide, they are able to get the required nutrients needed for growth. However, at times it can be challenging to provide them with the right meals as their appetites are much smaller.
Here are some ideas that will help you to satisfy daily requirements:
Serve snacks and meals in smaller size, but still nutritious daily. Due to the fact young children and preschoolers possess smaller stomachs; you will discover that they have to take in small quantities of food on a regular basis during the day.
As of such, you can divide one serving of food from the guide into smaller portions for their meals during the day. For instance, half serving of meat and its alternatives could be dished up in two separate meals like one egg during lunch and then 1 oz or 30 g of chicken can be served as dinner.

When it’s time for drinks, it is best to satisfy their hunger with water instead of soft drinks and other sweet beverages. Find ways to encourage the drinking of water in order to supply body fluids and satisfy their thirst.  The food guide suggests that both adults and children should opt for more fruits and vegetables instead of juice. Keep in mind that children likewise require 2 cups or 500 ml of milk daily to get Vitamin D.

Males and females Over 50
It is essential that when you in this age group Vitamin D nutritional supplements should be included in your daily diet. Besides adhering to the Canadian food guide, absolutely everyone older than 50 years old need to take 400 IU dosage of this vitamin daily. During this stage in life, this is required even more because calcium and Vitamin D are essential for strengthening bones and also to minimize potential risk of osteoporosis and bony injury.

Women in childbearing age groups
Throughout many phases of childbearing years, it’s a must that women include more calories and nutrients in their diet.
Supplemental Nutrients: Even though folic acid can be found in several foods, including beans, dark green vegetables, orange juice, lentils and certain grain products, it’s important that pregnant women, women planning to conceive and ones who are breastfeeding will require multivitamin with 400 mg of folic acid daily. As a result of eating foods with folic acid and taking this dosage of nutritional supplement, it will be possible to reduce potential risk of having babies with neural tube defects. Additionally, women that are pregnant must ensure that multivitamin includes adequate iron.

Extra Calories
In order for women to get extra calories, this could mean including an additional 2 or 3 servings based on the food guide from all of the 4 recommended food groups daily as well as their recommended portions each day. The additional servings may be incorporated as snacks or to regular meals. As an example, rather than one additional snack, it is possible to select extra portions of fruits and vegetables for breakfast and then extra portions of milk and other alternatives for dinner.
As you can see, there is something in the Canadian dietary guidelines to satisfy the needs of everyone, so take advantage of these suggestions to make healthy food choices.