In 2019, Health Canada will launch a new edition of the Canada Food Guide, the first revision of our national fitness meal roadmap since 2007. It is a vital document that influences the nutritional recommendations we get from doctors and dietitians and dictates the fitness curriculum in schools. and even have an impact on the menu of public establishments such as hospitals.
In Food for Thought, a documentary by The Nature of Things, we are informed that the new Brazilian food guide, created in 2014, is a style for the world. It’s been endorsed by everyone from nutrition guru Michael Pollan to the United Nations, and it’s based on a radical but strangely undeniable idea. Forget about categorizing your nutrition by food groups, pyramids, or nutrients. Don’t obsess over calories. Instead, focus on how the food is prepared.
The Brazilian consulting firm classifies foods according to 4 degrees of processing: 1. Unprocessed or minimally processed foods (e. g. , culmination, vegetables, legumes, eggs, nuts) 2. Processed culinary ingredients (cooking ingredients, e. g. , salt, butter, sugar, oils) 3 Processed foods (e. g. , canned fruits and vegetables, white meats) 4. Ultra-processed foods and beverages.
Urges other people to avoid ultra-processed foods at all costs. These are the manufactured products that line aisle after aisle at your local supermarket: breakfast cereals; sugary fruit juices and comfort drinks; packaged snacks such as chips and cookies; prepare and eat ready-to-serve foods, such as instant noodles; macaroni and cheese; and frozen pizza. These foods are high in bad fats, sugar and sodium. There’s an explanation why they have a long shelf life: they’re full of chemicals and preservatives.
Professor Jean-Claude Moubarac of Montgenuine University, who helped expand the Brazilian guidelines, says: “These are genuine foods. They are formulations of commercial ingredients and additives, consciously chosen to make a product that is sustainable, highly spicy and prone to to excessive consumption.
Another objective of the Brazilian Food Guide is to avoid confusing nutritional rules. “People don’t want to perceive the difference between saturated and unsaturated fats,” says Carlos Monteiro, one of the main creators of the consultancy, an expert in public fitness at the University. from Sao Paulo. Instead, the consultant gives a golden rule: opt for herbal or minimally processed foods and freshly prepared foods instead of ultra-processed foods.
It also warns consumers to be wary of the food industry’s commercial claims. “The manufacturers have convinced us that what happens in the kitchen and in the factory is the same,” says Moubarac. “It’s two other things. “
Moubarac is one of the experts consulted through Health Canada in the preparation of our new policy. He hopes Canadians will realize, as the Brazilian consultant advises, that cooking with new ingredients can play a huge role in improving health.
But is it realistic to cook from scratch for parents on the run? This is what Moubarac thinks, stressing that she suggests that women put on the apron and return to their classic role as sole guardians of the kitchen.
“It’s not about nostalgia,” he insists. Cooking is basic for humanity. Be an activity for the whole family. He believes that if families make it a priority, even the youngest can participate in shopping, menu planning and meal preparation.
According to Moubarac, only one in five Canadians cooks daily. We bought ready-to-eat food and ordered takeout. As a result, about 50% of our daily calories come from ultra-processed products. For our children, the statistics are even more alarming. Children between the ages of nine and 13, for example, get about 60% of their calories from ultra-processed foods. “It’s a nutritional calamity,” Moubarac says, and it’s the underlying explanation for why poor nutrition is now the number one threat. by mortality.
In Brazil, providing nutritious food to young people is not just an ambitious goal: it is a human right enshrined in the constitution. Public schools in Brazil are required by law to serve freshly prepared meals, and the goal is to source at least 30% of the produce they cook with comes from local farmers. It is a way to inspire economic and environmental sustainability and the health of at least forty-five million children who eat at school every day.
Finally, the Brazilian consultant advises sitting down to eat with friends and family, to enjoy the food and the experience. Despite their busy schedules, this is what Moubarac and his wife try to do together with their two young children. They say in Brazil, bon appetite!
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