What This Dietitian Thinks About The New Canada Food Guide

Medical Disclaimer:
The content in this video is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

In this episode of Abbey’s Kitchen, Abbey is sharing her thoughts on Canada’s new Food Guide.

First up, the layout.

The new guide says goodbye to recommended servings. Past food guides prescribed way too much food that the average person couldn’t possibly consume. The new guide says goodbye to food groups. Instead of a rainbow of foods like the past guide, the front page of the new guide features a large plate with a few simple messages. The new guide says goodbye to the focus on meat. Past guides have made meat the centrepiece of a balanced meal, but with new research suggests there are an abundance amount of plant-based foods that can still provide enough protein and meet nutritional requirements.

Here’s what Abbey likes about the new guide.

It recognizes that healthy eating is more than the foods we eat.
This guide touches briefly on mindful eating, emphasizes cooking at home with friends and family, understanding food labels being aware of food marketing.

It’s way cooler looking.
This new guide is a breath of fresh air with its simple design and straightforward tips.

It’s emphasis on filling half our plates with plants.
We think communicating this message via a visual tool (like a plate) is way more effective than just listing servings.

It encourages water for hydration.
In an effort to replace the many sugar sweetened beverages on the market, Canadians need to be reminded of the OG of hydration: water.

Here’s what Abbey does not like about the guide.
The Reliance on Technology.
The real information behind the guide is all online and it requires some navigation skills to find what you are looking for. This may be difficult for older Canadians or even newcomers to Canada.

It’s Too Broad.
Because of this, it may be difficult to inform public policy like healthy school lunch programs and hospital meals.

No Discussion of Body Positivity or Diet Culture.
It’s literally impossible to encourage people to eat mindfully when they’re still engrossed in diet culture.

It Lacks Cultural Relevance.
Food Guides are one of the firsts few documents given to newcomers to Canada, and a guide like this would just not make sense to them.

It lacks accessibility.
This new guide encourages Canadians to eat seasonally, to cook more at home and fill half their plate with fruits and veggies but what about the 4 million Canadians that shop at food banks and not farmer’s markets. This guide is not reaching them and is not addressing food insecurity which affects 1 in 8 Canadian households.

[oioe]

kinda feel the background music is too loud compared to your voice in some parts. Thanks for the video!

[Vanessa-busj]

Can you do a review of America's MyPlate

[Amy]

I love that you included cultural relevance! I've never thought of that!

[madisonlalonde]

I wish she could review the food guide from America or how the school lunches here, differ from in canada

[anastaciazara]

I would love to see a food guide that prominently recommends legumes. Beans, lentils and peas are little nuggets of nutritional goodness - and they're super cheap! They should be featured in both the grains and the protein sections. I would also love a food guide that distinguishes between the different types of "carbs." Refined sugar in candy is not the same as sugar in fruit. Starchy carbs in potatoes and white bread is not the same as complex carbs in brown rice and lentils. Right now, my fellow Americans are once again vilifying all carbs. I actually have friends who refuse to eat carrots because "carrots are carbs." It's absurd. Diet culture, as you so aptly pointed out, needs to be addressed. Just eat a wide variety of real, whole foods, and when it doubt, eat more spinach.

[savannadickey]

I have complained for years that the Canadian government websites are incredibly archaic and need to be revamped to be more user friendly. I work off of these government websites every day, and obviously work on a computer every day, and I still find it difficult to navigate 🙄 But love the new food guide! ❤️

[JillWags]

LOVE! I'm a Registered Dietitian in the US and we use My Plate, which has some similarities to this, but i love the different aspects they added with the plant based foods, emphasizing water, and mindful eating. Great review!

[kitteh]

I never considered the cultural implications of food recommendations! That’s a brilliant and important criticism. I’m from the states but this is still really interesting. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[-Anjel]

In Finland we don't have serving sizes we have had the plate model at least my whole life (I'm 27). School walls are always plastered with posters of how to eat and how half of the plate is supposed to be for vegetables, quarter for protein sources and the last quarter for carbohydrates and the drink is either milk (or milk substitute) or water. We are a meat and potato kind of country, have always been, but the government has for decades made an effort to get Finns eat more diverse food and it shows.

[isabellelebourlegat]

As a recent nutrition student graduate from Brazil I was already comparing with the Brazilian food guide, I was so happy that you mention it! I really enjoy your thoughts on nutrition and how you deliver trough your video!

[johnsaville]

7 years ago when I turned 60 I completely changed my diet. When possible I choose local, organic and seasonal vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. I choose pastured, grass fed meats, free range poultry and eggs and wild fish. I eliminated wheat, processed vegetable oils and added sugars and reduced dairy products significantly except for full fat Greek yogurt and goat cheese. I added fermented foods like sauerkraut. For cooking I use coconut oil and ghee. My treats are dark chocolate and a glass of red wine a few days each week. I dropped40 lbs., blood pressure and blood lipids are great and I take no medication. Do not fear saturated fats rather focus on eliminating sugar and foods that turn into sugar when digested (breads, pastries, pastas). Try eating this way for a month and you will feel amazing.

[thamidiuid]

Glad there's less of a focus on animal products. Since there's a lot of vegan and vegetarian now adays. But I feel like this new food guide will make keto dieters angry xD

[FaerieDust]

Really great video, but I really need other lowered volume on the background music or closed captions - I have a really hard time focusing on what you're saying, and YouTube's automatic captions are very unreliable..

[blackeyedbutterfly]

Such a nice surprise that you are Canadian!
I am wondering if haven't already if you could talk about the program where restaurant now have to display the caloric value of everything on their menu.
There has been a lot of concern with in the eating disorders recovery community about how this is negatively impact people.
Which I totally agree.
Yes there may be some positives about this, but having access to this information on demand would be quite sufficient. Instead it is creating more anxiety around food for a large population of health, weight, fit, obsessed society and impressionable children and teens.
I would be interested in hearing your thoughts.

[heatherisham]

Hey Abbey, could you do a video exemplifying a day of meals that you feel would most appropriately fit into this guide?

[marisac.l.]

Ma'am, sometimes I watch your videos, I never agreed with your opinions. Because you disqualify the work of holistic therapists and other points ... HERE, you stimulate the curiosity to research. That's great. For the first time I agree with your remarks on the subject presented. Congratulations and thank you.

[MarieJohnson]

I was hoping you would offer solutions to number 5. Lack of Accessibility. I don't think that's a very simple issue that is even addressable necessarily on a basic food guide. Should they offer a separate guide for lower income or impoverished families that suggests they eat less expensive fruits and veg or buy in bulk? I don't think it would make a difference either way, honestly. As you said, if a family is struggling to put food on the table, their main concern is what can I buy with the money I have to just get through the day.

[sarshlescheesecakeli]

I'm so glad someone else shares my opinion on the Canada's food guide just... not including certain cultural foods. I've rarely seen a single western healthy eating site make mention of our traditional foods (daikon, bitter melon, yu choy, bean sprouts, garlic shoots, bamboo shoots, yam, snow fungus... the list goes on and on) and instead opt for the classic western vegetables such as carrots, celery and kale. The best I ever got was bok choy. It made me feel far from "normal" and "healthy" because I was rarely eating any of the vegetables that these sources made mention of.
This especially affected me because these traditional foods take up most of my diet- we stir-fry them with soy sauce and call it a day. Not to mention that "filling half your plate" isn't really applicable to our family, either- we eat out of several communal plates. The only thing we ever measure out for ourselves are the starches (we call them zhushi- meaning "main food") and soups. Everything else is scavenged via chopsticks. We eat a lot more grains than the average Canadian household. Any cooking method other than stir-frying vegetables and steaming buns and grains are practically unheard of. Seeing my eating habits clash with what the "healthy" recommendations are made me anxious that I was eating wrong.
I don't expect Canada's food guide to include all of our and every other culture's traditional foods- There's a reason it's "Canada's food guide" and not "Earth's food guide". However, I feel there is at least space for some more representation or at least a mention of cultural foods and traditions that don't fit with the western standard.

[sunshinegirl]

I wish they included tips on affordable eating while including 50% veggies/fruit. And you have a valid point of higher starch veggies. What about carrots? Should carrots be considered a vegatable? 50% on your plate. What if someone has low thyroid, and they may not be able to metabolize the higher carb vegatables and grains. What about prediabetes/diabetes?

[rhijulbec]

happy to see you explain exactly what's going on with our new guide. Husband and I are diabetic and retired~so we pay attention to our diet more than most.
We get a lot of our food from the food bank, I'm ashamed to admit. And that alone makes planning meals hard. Everything is white. Pasta, rice, bread and no meat. At all. Plus no fresh~anything.
Getting whole grains, breads, seasonal fresh veg and fruit is almost impossible on a "food bank diet". Everything is the cheapest, processed beyond measure and frankly~tastes terrible. I'm disabled and housebound, so hubby tries to shop well, but sometimes the month lasts longer than the money. This causes high bld sugars, which in turn causes more illness and I see no way out.

Someone once put forth that, rather than donating food, which needs collecting, storing, processing and sorting~people should donate money so the food banks can get better deals on bulk purchases~thereby removing the need for donations of food. Which aren't necessarily the best. I used to donate money and food. Now, as a recipient of this charity, I find out why buying the cheapest food for those "poor people", so I could feel good about myself~did no one any great favours! And I regret it deeply.

I also wanted to let you know ~the background music is too loud. Perhaps turn it down?
Thank you for your great advice!