The nutrition recommendations that are being suggested by dietitians and other health professionals have evolved over the years from a focus on fats to looking at the overall eating pattern. Now, dietitians will evaluate many aspects of the eating pattern.
One place I always start is with vegetables and fruits.
Eating Well withCanada’s Food Guide suggests that adult men consume 8-10 portions and adult women consume 7-8 portions of foods from this group.
It is easy and delicious to include vegetables and fruits in our diets. Here are a few tips to help you to make delicious, healthy choices:
Choose more vegetables because they contain less calories, but they contains lots of nutrients. Many vegetables are nutrient dense, not calorie dense
Remember to eat a colourful plate: the more colours you choose the more variety of nutrients you will add to your diet.
Choose fresh vegetables and fruits whenever possible. Frozen or canned can be good alternatives in the winter when fresh vegetables and fruits can be more expensive or are not grown locally.
Remember to dress up your vegetables and fruits. Eating a plain apple can be fun, but sometimes it is fun to dress it up. Dressing up vegetables and fruits can be simple or elaborate. Just remember not to add too much sugar or fats
Here are a few examples:
Cut up an apple and top it with some plain low fat yogurt sweetenedwith a tiny bit of honey, and sprinkle it all with a bit of cinnamon.
Sprinkle some cooked spinach with some nutmeg
Add nuts to salads or cooked vegetables for some added crunch and nutrients.