- Nutrition Common Sense
- A Closer Look At What You Eat
- FoodFocus Update
Nutrition Common Sense
When you choose food you probably consider taste, convenience, cost
and (when you are old enough) nutrition. If you want to take a fresh look
at what you eat, you probably want to consider:
- Will it really affect your health? The short answer is "Yes
!". It can affect how easily you learn, how friendly you are, what
your skin looks like, how much energy you have, what you weigh, your chance
of getting some serious diseases and how much "good old age"
you enjoy. In fact, diet is a major factor in our
health.
- What makes sense? It makes sense to get as much value and enjoyment
for as little of your time and money as possible. It makes sense to be
as healthy as possible. The Canadian government has developed Health Canada's
Guide to Healthy Eating to explain common sense basics - eating appropriate
amounts from four basic food groups. Community health offices may provide
pamphlets with practical hints to help you move towards healthier eating.
Nutritionists can tell you how to get foods with the most nutritional value
and without real changes in your time, enjoyment or money. Scientific reports,
other governments and groups interested in special health concerns. Companies
interested in selling their products also provide nutrient information.
It is particularily important to be able to recognize those sources of
information that are unreliable or misleading because they put their benefit
ahead of your best interest.
A Closer Look At What You Eat
We couldn't get much done every day if we had to think about every little
thing we did, so we develop patterns about how we get to school or walk,
drive a car, spend our money and pick our food. With speedometers and speed
limits, income and expenses we usually know within a few seconds to a few
weeks how well we are doing. It makes good sense to act so that policemen
and credit managers do not get a chance to point out any serious violations.
For foods we know the taste, convenience, and cost right away but it unfortunately
it takes much longer before you find out how your choices really affect
your health. It's good sense to take a closer look at what you eat (before
a doctor has an opportunity to point out any long term violations).
Some ways to take a closer look to see if your food choices make sense
are:
- The simplest approach is to compare what you eat to the food servings
and food groups recommended in Health Canada's Guide to Healthy Eating.
This approach is a simple and free approximation.
- An intermediate approach is to do nutrient calculations by hand or
by computer and then compare the nutrients in the food you eat to Health
Canada's Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI's). That approach requires either
reference books and a lot of time and calculations or a computer program
like FoodFocus.
- The most elaborate approach is professional assistance by doctors,
public health nurses and dietitians. These professionals can help you with
your special needs. You should recognize sources of information that are
unreliable or misleading.
Current version of FoodFocus is: version 3.4 (Windows). Updates are available for
all previous versions of FoodFocus. Contact FoodFocus for details.
Send us your comments at
MattProwse@foodfocus.com
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FoodFocus is an easy-to-use nutrition analysis program that helps you choose foods
for a healthy lifestyle. Instant feedback on selection ensures effective learning. Although targeted at junior
and senior high schools, FoodFocus has been used from elementary school
to university education and in public health across Canada. It has received
rave reviews since 1993.