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Nutrition newest revamp of Canada's food guide...

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crazycanuck

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A few days ago, Health Canada has just revealed their latest edition of Canada's food guide. Here's an article of how it has changed over the years. Very interesting photos/concepts. Like a HUGE HUGE servings of grains! And liver recommended at one time (gag)

Canada's Food Guide throughout the years

Now the latest update:

Canada’s Food Guide – Canada’s Food Guide

Talk about open ended, especially as far as no serving sizes . I think that is the main criticism that I read at least in the media up here about it. But....maybe this is a good thing in a way. In the government link I posted above, below the picture of the plate, look at the 2nd page.....such as eating habits. Maybe we don't need an across the board portions size necessarily if we learn to do things like slow down when eating, tell head/emotional hunger from belly hunger, etc

And another enormous one.....not only is there just a "drink water more often" which is good thing, as a huge amount of sugar comes from juices and faux juices, pop, BUT there is no longer any milk or milk products group at all. As you can guess that won't go over very well (have a very strong dairy lobby up here), so that is not surprising to hear of the upset in that regard.

I just thought it was interesting to see a food guide that doesn't have some indications of lobbying, special interest group influence, etc. And the "lifestyle" recommendations in it were a surprise to me (more about just fthe food that goes in the ol' pie-hole)

I imagine our "old guides" at least were very simular to what is promoted in the US at least. Brought this up as a topic of interest. One thing that would interest me if anyone wants to chime in is what "food guides" are like elsewhere....
 
1/4 of that dish is from grain, that cannot be consider huge...
I think that was a reference to a previous version of the guidelines.

I dig it. Obviously, there are things about it that I would "improve" based on my own biases, but I really like that they don't get into the weeds about what type of food to eat and how much. Instead, they point out that we should eat real food and treat it like an important part of our day. Hard to argue with that.
 
Still pushing the low fat stuff. “Order coffee with low fat milk or fortified soy beverage.”

I’ve read comments on the guide elsewhere that claim there is influence on this guide, just from the “vegetarian” types of lobbies as opposed to dairy or meat. Where food is involved, I think it’s impossible to claim that there is no outside influence - someone is always playing their part of the game.

There is money in meat, dairy, soy, corn, wheat, etc. “Gluten free” is a common health choice made today to avoid inflammation, yet somehow “heart healthy whole grains” is still on everyone’s recommendation list, as an example.

HOWEVER. I really do like the lack of portion sizes and the mindful eating direction they are going. Some really positive stuff here. Especially the recommendation to cook for yourself. Cooking your own food would be a major step in the right direction for a lot of people!
 
That's pretty interesting.

Here's the UK version:

upload_2019-3-29_14-33-11.png

Apparently we can have more carbs?

I really like the second page of the canadian guide - mindful, social eating and cooking for yourself are really positive.
 
Interestingly our parents and grandparents, who had much lower rates of obesity used to eat exactly that.
This is actually a very important point. I would assume it’s connected to less factory made ingredients, more home cooked meals, and a less automated lifestyle.
 
Here is the food pyramid of the Austrian Social Ministry:
ernaehrungspyramide-neu-final.jpg

  • daily a min. of 1,5l of water or non-alcoholic and low calorie drinks
  • daily 3 portions of vegetables or legumes + 2 portions of fruit
  • daily 4 portions of grain products, rice or potatoes - preferably whole grain products
  • daily 3 portions of low fat milk or dairy products
  • weekly 1–2 portions of fish. A weekly maximum of 3 portions of low-fat meat or meat products. A weekly maximum of 3 portions of eggs.
  • daily 1–2 table spoons of plant oils, nuts or seeds. minimize other fats and fatty dairy products
  • minimize fatty, sugary or salty foods and high calorie drinks
  • weekly a minimum of 150 minutes of medium intensity aerobic activity and a minimum of 2 trainings sessions for the muscles

Not fantastic. But we have to keep in mind that they are primarily concerned with over-eating and most of the populations is sedentary and doesn't exercise regularly anyways.

Some data from the Austrian Social Ministry for 2017:
  • 41% of the adult population is overweight or obese
  • men consume an average of 2450kcal per day, women an average of 1815kcal per day
  • more than half of the population leads a sedentary lifestyle with little physical activity at work or in their free time
  • on average almost 37% of all calories come from fat, over 45% of all calories come from carbohydrates
  • sugar makes up 17% of all calories
  • the majority of the population does not get enough vitamin D, vitamin E, calcium and iodine
  • the majority of women does not get enough iron (women need much more iron in their diet than men)
  • but a sizeable minority is deficient in other micro nutrients
  • both men and women only eat an average of 1 serving of vegetables a day
  • both men and women only eat an average of 1 serving of fruit a day
 
Interesting that average daily intake of 1815/2450 kcal gives you 41% adults who are overweight or obese.
 
Interesting that average daily intake of 1815/2450 kcal gives you 41% adults who are overweight or obese.
Well, it is the average. So half of the pop eats more, half less.

And according to The Internet(TM) a man who is 180cm/5'9'' tall and weighs 80kg/176lbs (BMI=24,7) has a Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) of 1800kcal. A sedentary lifestyle with little to no physical activity burns another 500kcal for a total of 2300kcal. So for people with an office job that drive everywhere and don't make time for exercise in their free time there really isn't much wiggle room to push your BMI to 25.

A little bit of light exercise would make quite the difference. But most don't make time. Even in my own family half of the adults rarely do more than go for a short walk on the weekend.
 
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