The meat and potatoes of Canada’s Food Guide used to be quite literally meat and potatoes.No more.The latest iteration of Health Canada’s advice on what to eat has taken those two former dietary staples almost entirely off our plates and replaced them mainly with leafier vegetables, alternative proteins, such as tofu and beans, and whole grains, such as quinoa.Finally released Tuesday after a long delay, the 2019 guide advises Canadians to limit sugar, salt and saturated fat and, in a departure from previous guides, embrace a plant-based diet.A dinner plate that is half-full of brightly coloured veggies has replaced the rainbow and pyramid as the guide’s new image. Small cubes of beef and thin slices of poultry are almost hidden on the plate beneath chickpeas and walnuts.There’s also going to be an interactive website, according to Kate Comeau, of the Dietitians of Canada, where Canadians can find information they need, such as what to do with frozen spinach, when cooking dinner in a hurry.A group of doctors across the country had been crusading against some of the expected guidelines since 2016. Barbra Allen-Bradshaw, a British Columbia pathologist and Carol Loefflemann, a Toronto anesthesiologist, co-founders of Canadian Clinicians for Therapeutic Nutrition, a national non-profit, say that Canadians should be eating fewer carbohydrates and more fat from sources such as steak and cheese. Here are five of the biggest changes to Health Canada’s Food Guide:Canadians should envision their dinner plate half full of veggies.Canadians should eat mostly plants, choosing alternative proteins, such as tofu, over food from animal sources, such as steak.More than ever before there’s a focus on eating behaviours, such as “enjoy your food” and eating with others.The guide takes aim at alcohol saying it’s loaded with calories and, mixed with syrups in a cocktail, can be a “significant” source of salt, sugar and ...
|