VISUALIZING NUTRITION
CANADIAN EDITION
Mary B. Grosvenor • Lori A. Smolin • Diana Bedoya
Chapter 2:
Guidelines for a Healthy Diet
CHAPTER 2: GUIDELINES FOR A HEALTHY
DIET
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
• Describe how the government influences food choices
• Plan a diet to meet energy and nutrient intake
recommendations
THINK about this – then share within
a PAIR – then SHARE with the class
• What influences your food choices?
• How have you used food labels, Canada’s Food Guide,
or other recommendations to make food choices?
• What are recommendations for a healthy diet?
Past Canadian food
recommendations
• 1938: The first food guidelines Canada ever released
were the Recommended Nutrient Intakes (RNIs)
• specified the amount of essential nutrients needed to meet the
needs of most Canadians
• 1942: Canada’s first food guide, Canada’s Official Food
Rules
• drew many of its recommendations from the standards
outlined in the RNIs.
Past Canadian food
recommendations
Current Canadian food
recommendations
• Canadian guidelines have converged with similar
American guidelines
• Both countries use guidelines based on Dietary
Reference Intakes (DRIs)
• The latest version, released in 2007, is entitled Eating
Well with Canada’s Food Guide
• Includes specific recommendations for both genders at
various life stages and stresses the importance of
incorporating physical activity in a healthy lifestyle
Nutritional status
• Health is influenced by intake and utilization of
nutrients
• In populations, includes analysis of food intake or food
availability
• In individuals, includes analysis of food and nutrient
intake, physical health (including measuring nutrients),
medical and family history, and lifestyle
Assessing nutritional status
1. Determine typical food
intake
2. Analyze nutrient intake
3. Evaluate physical health
4. Consider medical
history
5. Assess with laboratory
tests
Nutritional status
Concept check
• How do nutrition recommendations benefit individual
and public health?
• What is the purpose of RNIs?
• Which factors are considered in evaluating nutritional
status?
Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs)
• Scientifically based reference values for the amount of
energy, nutrients and other food components in the diet
• To reduce chronic disease risk, promote general
health, and minimize symptoms of deficiency
• Set for each gender and various life stages
DRIs: 4 sets of values
1.
Estimated Average Requirements (EARs)
2.
Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs)
3.
Adequate Intakes (AIs)
4.
Tolerable Upper Intake Limits (ULs)
Estimated Average Requirements
(EARs)
• Nutrient intakes estimated to meet the needs of 50% of
healthy individuals within a gender and life-stage group
• Used to assess the adequacy of a population’s food
supply but not appropriate for evaluating an individual’s
intake
Recommended Daily Allowances
(RDAs)
• Nutrients intake sufficient to meet the needs of healthy
individuals within a gender and life-stage group
• Typically set 20% higher than EARs
• Amounts of nutrients and food components that will
meet the needs of most healthy people
• Amounts people should consume on average over
several days or weeks
Adequate Intakes (AIs)
• Nutrients intake used when not enough data are
available to set RDAs
• Estimation of amounts needed to sustain health
• Based on what healthy people typically eat
• Amounts people should consume on average over
several days or weeks
Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (ULs)
• Maximum daily nutrients intake unlikely to pose health
risk to almost all individuals within a gender or lifestage group
• Depending on nutrient, UL is set for intake from all
sources, for supplements alone, or for supplements
and fortified foods
• Not enough data are available to set ULs for all
nutrients
DRIs: 4 sets of values
Checking understanding
Which DRI value(s) is/are set at a level that will meet the
needs of most healthy people in a population?
Estimated Average Requirements (EARs)
b) Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs)
c) Adequate Intakes (AIs)
d) Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (ULs)
a)
Checking understanding
Which DRI value represents the amount above which
toxicity becomes more likely?
Estimated Average Requirements (EARs)
b) Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs)
c) Adequate Intakes (AIs)
d) Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (ULs)
a)
Debate
Super fortified foods:
are they a healthy addition to
your diet?
Recommendations for energy intake
1.
Estimated Energy Requirements (EERs)
2.
Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges
(AMDRs)
Estimated Energy Requirements
(EERs)
• Average energy intake values predicted to maintain
weight in healthy individuals
• Based on age, gender, height, weight, and physical
activity
Estimated Energy Requirements
(EERs)
• EER calculations provided by Health Canada for
people 19 years of age or older:
• Men
EER = 662 - (9.53 x age [y]) +PA x {915.91x weight [kg] + (539.6
x height [m])}
• Women
EER = 354 – (6.91 x age [y]) + {(9.36 x weight [kg] + (726 x
height [m])}
Estimated Energy Requirements
(EERs)
Right amount of energy from the
right sources
© Can Stock Photo / ziprashantzi
a. A 17-year-old girl who is 163 cm tall, weighs 57
kg and gets no exercise has an EER of about
1,630 kilocalories a day. If she adds an hour of
moderate to vigorous activity to her daily routine,
her EER will increase to 2,241 kilocalories, so she
can theoretically eat just over 600 kilocalories more
per day to maintain her current weight and support
growth. If she grows taller or gains weight, her
EER will also increase. Although EER provides a
good sense of your daily caloric needs, it is not an
exact science. Everyone in the population is
different, and some people may have faster or
slower metabolisms and thus require either more
or fewer kilocalories to maintain their current
weight.
Acceptable Macronutrient
Distribution Ranges (AMDRs)
• Recommended protein, carbohydrate, and fat intake
ranges to decrease disease risk and provide diet
flexibility
• Percentages of total calories
• 20–35% of calories from protein
• 45–65% of calories from carbohydrates
• 20–35% of calories from fat
What are similarities and differences
between:
•
EARs and RDAs?
•
RDAs and AIs?
•
RDAs and ULs?
•
AIs and ULs?
•
EERs and AMDRs?
Right amount of energy from the
right sources
b. A healthy diet can include different proportions of
carbohydrate, protein, and fat. These two plates show very
different food combinations, but both are within the AMDRs
for protein, carbohydrate, and fat.
© Can Stock Photo Inc. / charlotte Lake
Concept check
• What are RDAs and AIs used for?
• How might you use ULs?
• What are three variables that affect your energy
needs?
• Why are AMDR values given as ranges rather than as
single numbers?
Balancing food consumption with
physical activity
• Health Canada recommends
moderating calorie intake
• Consuming the appropriate
number of calories is more
important than the relative
proportions of carbohydrate, fat,
and protein
© Can Stock Photo Ince. / 4774344sean
• limiting portion sizes
• reducing consumption of added
sugars, salt and fats
• Health Canada recommends 150
minutes of moderate to vigorous
physical activity per week
• In accumulated intervals of at least
10 minutes at a time
• To maximize the powerful effects of
physical activity on health, more
daily physical activity and less
sedentary activity is recommended.
© Can Stock Photo Inc. / monkeybusiness
Balancing food consumption with
physical activity
What should I eat?
• Increase nutrient density
• Balance intake with activity
• Limit nutrients that increase health risks
Tools for diet planning
• Health Canada’s Eating Well with Canada’s Food
Guide contains recommendations to help Canadians
make healthy nutritional choices
• Based on DRIs
• Divides foods into groups based on the main nutrients they
supply and on their recommended relative intake level
• Recommends appropriate number of servings from each food
group to be consumed daily by children, teens and adults of
both sexes
Canada’s Food Guide
Canada’s Food Guide
Canada’s Food Guide –
vegetables and fruit
• Eat at least one dark green and one orange vegetable
each day
• Go for dark green vegetables such as broccoli, romaine
lettuce and spinach.
• Go for orange vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes and
winter squash
• Choose vegetables and fruit prepared with little or no
added fat, sugar or salt
• Enjoy vegetables steamed, baked or stir-fried instead of deepfried.
• Have vegetables and fruit more often than juice
Canada’s Food Guide –
grain products
• Make at least half of your grain products whole grain
each day
• Eat a variety of whole grains such as barley, brown rice, oats,
quinoa and wild rice
• Enjoy whole grain breads, oatmeal or whole wheat pasta
• Choose grain products that are lower in fat, sugar or
salt
• Compare the Nutrition Facts table on labels to make wise
choices.
• Enjoy the true taste of grain products. When adding sauces or
spreads, use small amount
Canada’s Food Guide –
milk and milk alternatives
• Drink skim, 1%, or 2% milk each day
• Have 500 mL (2 cups) of milk every day for adequate vitamin
D.
• Drink fortied soy beverages if you do not drink milk
• Select lower fat milk alternatives
• Compare the Nutrition Facts table on yogurts or cheeses to
make wise choices
Canada’s Food Guide –
meat and meat alternatives
• Have meat alternatives such as beans, lentils and tofu
often
• Select lean meat and alternatives prepared with little or
no added fat or salt
• Trim the visible fat from meats. Remove the skin on poultry
• Use cooking methods such as roasting, baking or poaching
that require little or no added fat.
• If you eat luncheon meats, sausages or prepackaged meats,
choose those lower in salt (sodium) and fat
• Eat at least two Food Guide Servings of fish each week
• Choose fish such as char, herring, mackerel, salmon, sardines
and trout
Canada’s Food Guide –
oils and fats
• Include a small amount – 30 to 45 mL (2 to 3 Tbsp) – of
unsaturated fat each day
• This includes oil used for cooking, salad dressings, margarine
and mayonnaise
• Use vegetable oils such as canola, olive and soybean
• Choose soft margarines that are low in saturated and
trans fats
• Limit butter, hard margarine, lard and shortening
Customizing your food guide
• The interactive tool My Food Guide is found on
Health Canada’s website
• It allows customization of one’s own guide
based on age, gender, and food preferences
• It allows one to choose dietary options and
various forms of physical activity that allow
meeting recommendations
Customizing your food guide
Canada’s Food Guide –
First Nations, Inuit and Métis
• Similar to the main version:
• types of foods in each group
• amount of servings required for
different age and gender groups
• Main difference is the way the
guide is presented
• better reflects Aboriginal dietary
patterns and culture
• types of foods typical and
affordable in the remote
communities where many
Aboriginals live
Concept check
1. How is Eating Well with Canada’s Food
Guide related to the DRIs?
2. What is the significance of the specific
rainbow design of Canada’s Food Guide?
3. How many servings of grain products do you
require each day? How many would be
recommended if you were of the opposite
gender?
Food labels
• Designed to help consumers make healthy choices
• Provide information about the nutrient composition of a
food and how that food fits into the diet
• Federal regulations control what can, cannot and must
appear on a food label
• As December 2007, Canadian manufacturers must
conform to strict new labeling rules
Nutrition Facts panel
• Serving size
• Servings per container
• Total kilocalories
• Calories from fat
• Amounts of nutrients in a standard serving
• Usually a percentage of Daily Values (DV)
• Daily Values are based on a 2000-kilocalorie diet
Food labels
Basic labeling requirements
• In most of Canada, food labels must provide nutritional
information in both English and French languages
• The common name of the food must typically be
approved by Canada’s Food and Drug Regulations
(FDR)
Basic labeling requirements
• The net quantity declaration must accurately reflect the
weight, volume, measure, etc. of the product and must
be expressed in metric units
• The name and address of the manufacturer or
producer and durable life date of the product must be
included
Nutrition facts
• All food labels must include Nutrition Facts
panel
• It lists the type and quantity of nutrients in a
standard serving, the size of the serving and
the number of calories
• It also provides the %Daily Value – the amount
of a nutrient expressed as a percentage of a
recommended Daily Value for a 2,000kilocalorie diet
 Food labels are not required for raw fruits,
vegetables, fish, meat and poultry
 They are not required either for food served in
restaurants, delicatessen, bakeries and other
similar establishments
© Can Stock Photo Inc. / dotshock
© Can Stock Photo Inc. / pemotret
Food labels
Nutrient content and health claims
• Statements that highlight a characteristic of a food that
might be of interest to consumers
• Canada’s Food and Drug Regulations (FDR) provides
standard definitions for specific descriptors
Nutrient content and health claims
Health claims
• Refer to a relationship between a nutrient, food, food
component, or dietary supplement and reduced risk of
a disease or health-related condition
• Two main types:
• Disease-reduction claims
• Function claims
Health claims
• Disease reduction claims make correlations between
the nutrient content of a food and a decreased risk of
disease
• Only a small number of disease-reduction claims are
approved by Health Canada
Health claims
Permitted disease-reduction claims
Health claims
• Function claims relate to the well-established beneficial
effects of a specific food or food constituent on the
normal function of the body or for good health
• Example: “Calcium helps promote strong bones and teeth”
• List of approved claims is expanding: new health
claims may be proposed at any time
• Current information on label statements and claims
available on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
website (www.inspection.gc.ca).
Natural health products
• Include multivitamin pills to herbal remedies, probiotics,
and essential fatty acid and amino acid isolates
• Sometimes referred to as “complementary” or
“alternative” medicines
• Regulated by Health Canada’s National Health
Products Directorate
• Products first require a licence before they can be sold
in Canada
Natural Health Product Labels
Labels must contain:
• a product license number
• a list of medicinal and nonmedicinal ingredients
• a description of
recommended doses
• where applicable, any
necessary cautionary
statements
May also include a health
claim authorized by Health
Canada
Concept check
• Why are serving sizes standardized on food labels?
• Which food label information helps you find foods that
are low in saturated fat and cholesterol?
• Where should you look to see if a food contains nuts?
• How can structure and function claims on dietary
supplement labels be misleading?
Applications
What advice could you give to a loved one about a
healthy diet based on government recommendations?
Which specific changes can you make to improve your
diet?
Calculate
•
•
•
•
Serving size = 250 mL
Serving per package = 4
Saturated fat = 10% Daily Value (DV)
Sodium = 30% DV
If you ate this entire package,
how much of your DV would you consume?
How much of your sodium?
Checking understanding
Which of the following is NOT required in the Nutrition
Facts panel?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Nutrient claim
Serving size
%DV of saturated fat
Ingredients list
Checking student learning outcomes
• In which ways does the government try to
communicate healthy eating recommendations to the
public?
• How can you use government recommendations to
plan a diet?
• What are recommendations for a healthy diet?
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