Canada's Newest Food Guide Makes a Big Change!

I have so much to share, so I am committing to a weekly post, beginning today!

First, what has me so excited lately - Canada's newest nutrition guidelines! You know, Canada, just a bit north of the United States!

The most significant change is that due to the overwhelming science establishing the harm of dairy consumption, the country of Canada is no longer recommending that it's citizens consume dairy! This understanding is overwhelming in evidence based nutrition research, however it goes against the grain of what we have always been told, "Milk does a body good".

Certainly, the United States will follow suit in the next few decades, and I will be in a pleasant state of shock if this recommendation will come in 2020, when our next set of guidelines is due to be published. In the 2015 USDA recommendations, soy milk was listed as an alternative to dairy milk, a step in the right direction. Though the focus was on lactose intolerance, rather that the myriad of reasons one ought to opt for non-dairy alternatives.

The Canadian plate is very similar to the USDA plate otherwise, since both promote a significantly whole foods plant based plate. Consider that 75% of the plate must come from plants, and the "protein foods" can easily come from plant sources.

Canada is also providing the following wonderful tips and messages! They also say "Healthy eating is more that the foods you eat." and "Eat well. Live Well."

1. Be mindful of your eating habits. Here is a Mindfulness Made Easy post :)
2. Cook more often.
3. Enjoy your food. For more, check out my Savor Your Sweets post.
4. Eat meals with others. You might enjoy my post highlighting the Blue Zones.
5. Use food labels. Check out Food Labels for Dummies.
6. Limit foods high in sodium, sugars, or saturated fat.
7. Be aware of food marketing. 

Here is a handout you can download: Canada's Food Guide
Here is the Canadian Government's website with lots of awesome resources: Resources.