Canada Food Guide:
The Canada Food Guide was updated in 2019. This was the first update in over 10 years, and it was significantly simplified. Instead of providing specific serving sizes and portions, it recommends your plate be ½ filled with fruit and vegetables, ¼ with whole grain foods and ¼ with protein foods. Water is the suggested drink of choice.
Written by Health Canada (the US food guide comes from the Department of Agriculture) it states that animal products should be minimized, avoiding fruit juices (liquid sugar!) and whole foods be consumed instead of processed foods.
The new recommendations were heavily criticized by Agriculture Canada as well as the meat and dairy industries. The new guide is based on extensive review of the medical literature and advises that protein come mainly from plants not animals. Plants that contain protein include lentils, soy (tofu, tempeh, edamame), nuts, seeds, green peas, seitan, oats, broccoli, potatoes, wild rice, chickpeas, quinoa, avocado, winter squash, collards and sweet corn. Most Americans consume far too much protein, mainly animal, and this is the root cause of many chronic illnesses including certain cancers and inflammatory diseases,
The consumption of processed foods is discouraged. Foods in this category include white rice, refined sugar, refined pasta, sugary drinks (including fruit juices), white bread, sweetened breakfast cereals, pastries, cookies, french fries, potato chips, most “gluten free” snacks, artificial sweeteners and most fast food meals. These foods are stripped of nutrients, contain many chemicals, lack fiber which is so essential (our fiber video is a must see!), and are loaded with sugars and fat.
Author: Henri P. Lanctin, MD FACS