The Problem with Canada’s Food Guide

BY: DR. MELINA ROBERTS

I openly DO NOT subscribe to Canada’s Food Guide.  If you followed Canada’s Food Guide, it would promote ill health and obesity.  It is seriously and greatly flawed.  It does not in any way promote optimally, long-term wellness.  The truth is it was developed by Canadian agriculture to promote Canada’s agriculture, not to promote human health.

The 3 macronutrients or main building blocks that our bodies need are carbohydrates, proteins and fats.  We can get carbohydrates from vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, beans, lentils and legumes.  We can get proteins from nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, legumes and animal meats.  We can get fats from avocados, nuts, seeds and coconut oil.  You may notice that grains and cow’s dairy are not on these lists.

We do not NEED grains to get our carbohydrates nor other micronutrients.  Grains are really not necessary for us to get the nutrients we need to survive.  Modern gluten grains are major inflammatory foods that can cause a lot of damage in the body and does not promote health.  Hence, I would put it as a “food group to avoid” category with a low nutritional value.  The only grain that I would recommend would be quinoa, which has all the amino acids making it a complete protein and highly nutritious.

Dairy is also not necessary for us to get the nutrients we need to survive including Calcium (we can get more calcium from green, leafy vegetables).  I would put it as a “food group to avoid” category.  Cow’s dairy is a major inflammatory food that contributes to more health problems in the body.  Consuming goat and sheep dairy as cow dairy replacements is okay, but again they are not necessary for our survival.

Therefore, I would recommend that we eat lots of vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, lentils and legumes. We should have limited fruits and limited grass-fed animal meats and wild fish.  I would also extent my recommendations to say that these foods should be organic and non-GMO.  Following these recommendations WILL promote long-term health in Canadians.