Food for Thought
Eating a healthy diet is one of the most important ways that you can improve your health.
We recommend making small & sustainable changes.
Food marketing has a huge effect on us, and there is a giant industry trying to convince us that one “diet” is better than the other. Food marketing can appear in many hidden forms: in fad diets, books, meal supplements, documentaries, and on social media.
We understand that all the mixed messages can be confusing. In reality, a healthy diet is pretty simple.
We want to highlight some key recommendations from Canada’s Food Guide:
Eat many vegetables and fruits
Eat plant-based proteins more often (examples: tofu, lentils, beans)
Avoid highly processed foods as much as possible (examples: fast food, convenience and prepared foods, processed and cured meat, chips, etc.)
Avoid added sodium, sugar, and saturated fat
Make water your drink of choice, and avoid sugary drinks
The following are dietary patterns supported by the best evidence to improve heart health. We do not want this list to be overwhelming, but rather to clarify what dietary patterns are best supported in medical studies. We have listed heart-healthy dietary patterns here for your reference:
Mediterranean dietary pattern: The main components of this dietary pattern include a lot of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, fish and poultry, and limiting red meat.
Portfolio dietary pattern: This dietary pattern has been shown to lower cholesterol and improve heart health. It includes nuts, plant proteins, and a lot of fibre.
DASH dietary pattern: This dietary pattern has been shown to lower blood pressure by up to 10 points! It is quite similar to Canada’s Food Guide, and recommends vegetables, fruit, whole grains and healthy protein choices. The DASH diet is also generally low in saturated fat, sugar and salt.
Dietary patterns high in legumes (≥ 4 servings/week). Legumes include dried beans, peas, lentils and chickpeas.
Dietary patterns rich in fruits and vegetables (≥ 5 servings/day). This one has few draw-backs! You may consider aiming for 7-10 servings of fruit + veggies per day.
Dietary patterns high in total fibre (≥ 30 g/day); and whole grains (≥ 3 servings/day)
Low glycemic load or low glycemic index dietary patterns: This is a pattern that limits foods with a high “glycemic index”, referring to carbohydrate-containing foods and drinks that raise blood sugar levels more than others. This may be particularly important for patients with diabetes.
A well-balanced vegetarian diet: Vegetarian diets should include a variety of unprocessed plant-based proteins, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. It is still important to limit foods that are high in sodium, added sugar, and saturated fat. A vegetarian diet can be extremely heart-healthy, or can also consist of pizza and french fries!
Dietary patterns high in nuts (≥ 30 g/day). While this has shown to improve heart health, most dietitians suggest limiting nuts to about 30 grams, or about a quarter cup per day because of the high-calorie density in nuts.
Dietary patterns high in olive oil (≥ 60 mL/d). Again, it is important to consider what else you are eating. 60 mL= 4 tbsp of olive oil, which contains 476 calories and 56 grams of fat! (Each tbsp of olive oil has 14 grams of fat). We recommend replacing other fat sources (such as butter, ghee, and coconut oil) with olive oil
There is no “magic pill”, but you can improve your health by eating well.
Here are some tips to get started:
Fill 50% of your plate with fruit and vegetables. Frozen fruits and vegetables can save time and money.
Read food labels. Avoid highly processed foods such as fast food, frozen pizza, and deli meats. These foods are high in sodium and fat.
Many healthy foods are high in fibre. Aim to eat more than 30 grams of fibre per day.
Prepare your food at home as much as possible, and plan ahead with healthy snacks and home-made frozen food.
Be mindful of what, how, where, when, and why you are eating. Many people eat when they are stressed or bored. Some people find a paper-based or online “food journal” helpful.
Nobody is perfect. Make small changes, stay consistent, and slowly transform your diet into a healthier one.
