Introduction
Canada's Food Guide is a reference work produced by Health Canada. It recommends what to eat to enjoy good health.
Food guides are educational resources that help you start and maintain a healthy diet. They bring together complex dietary analysis, information on nutrition, food consumption statistics and information on food supply and production. Essentially, food guides put the science of nutrition into an easy-to-follow practical guide to healthy and varied food choices.
Following Canada's Food Guide can reduce your risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, certain types of cancer, and osteoporosis. More generally, it can help you to remain physically, mentally and emotionally healthy by making wiser choices about what fuel you put into your body.
What You Can Do
Start by following the recommended number of servings and serving sizes for your gender and age group:
Examples of Recommended Number of Servings:
| Recommended Number of Food Guide Servings/Day |
Children |
Teens |
Adults |
| 2-3< |
4-8 |
9-13 |
14-18 |
19-50 |
50+ |
| Boys and Girls |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
| Vegetables and Fruit |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
7-8 |
8-10 |
7 |
7 |
| Grain Products |
3 |
4 |
6 |
6 |
7 |
6-7 |
8 |
6 |
7 |
| Milk and Alternates |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3-4 |
3-4 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
| Meat and Alternates |
1 |
1 |
1-2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
Recommended Serving Sizes from Each Food Group:
| Fruit and Vegetables |
Grain Products |
Milk and Alternates |
Meat and Alternates |
| 1 medium piece of fruit |
1 slice of bread |
250 mL (1 cup) milk or fortified soy beverage |
75 g (2 1/2 oz.)/125 mL (1/2 cup) cooked fish, shellfish, poultry or lean meat |
| 1/2 cup cooked vegetables |
1/2 bagel, bun or pita |
175 g (3/4 cup) yoghurt |
175 mL (3/4 cup) cooked beans |
| 4 ounces juice |
125 mL (1/2 cup) cooked rice, pasta, or couscous |
50 g (1.765 oz.) cheese |
2 eggs |
| 125 mL (1/2 cup) fresh, frozen or canned vegetable |
30 g cold cereal or 175 mL (3/4 cup) hot cereal |
|
30 mL (2 Tbsp) peanut butter |
250 mL (1 cup) leafy raw vegetables or
salad |
|
|
|
Use My Food Guide, an interactive tool available for free. It helps you to customize the material in Canada's Food Guide to suit your needs and lifestyle.
By entering personal information, such as age and sex, selecting various items from the four food groups and choosing different types of physical activities, you can create a tool that is customized just for you. There are lots of foods to choose from in each of the four food groups, so be sure to try different combinations when creating this tool that illustrates how you can eat well with Canada's Food Guide.
In addition to English or French you can choose to print this tool in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese (traditional or simplified), Farsi, Korean, Russian, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, Tamil or Urdu.
You can also download Canada's Food Guide or call Health Canada to order a free copy, using the contact information provided below under "Further Resources."
What You Can Eat
Eat at least one dark green vegetable and one orange vegetable daily.
Choose vegetables and fruit with little or no added fat, sugar or salt. Enjoy them raw, steamed, baked or stir-fried. Ten daily servings for adults and four daily servings for children are recommended.
Choose grain products low in fat, sugar or salt. At least half should be whole grain. Eight daily servings for adults and three daily servings for children are recommended.
Select lower fat milk alternatives, such as low-fat milk, fortified soy beverages, yogurt and cheese. Two daily servings for children and adults and four daily servings for teens are recommended.
Select lean meats, with little or no added fat or salt, and eat more protein alternatives to meat, such as beans, lentils and tofu. Three daily servings for adults and one daily serving for children are recommended.
Aim for at least two servings of fish each week.
Have two to three tablespoons of unsaturated fat, such as olive or soybean oil, daily.
Choose soft margarines low in saturated and trans fats.
Drink plenty of water and clear fluids throughout the day.
Further Resources
Contact Health Canada, Food and Nutrition, at www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/contact/index_e.html or 1-800-622-6232.
