As dietitians, we get a lot of questions about healthy eating from people everywhere we go. How can we hope to answer everyone’s nutrition questions in this all-consuming profession (pun intended)? It’s actually easy. We point people towards registered dietitians that are just a phone call away, and to credible nutrition resources that are just a mouse click away.
Dietitian Services at HealthLinkBC:
Just pick up your phone and dial 8-1-1. You can speak to a registered dietitian Monday to Friday. If you have just been diagnosed with a condition and are not sure what to eat, if you need answers to nutrition questions such as, “how much calcium is in spinach?” or “how do I introduce solid food to my baby?” this free service is a great place to start.
Hundreds of nutrition handouts are available on websites like www.healthlinkbc.ca/dietitian or http://www.dietitians.ca/Your-Health.aspx. And of course Interior Health’s website has lots of great information at www.interiorhealth.ca/healthy_eating.aspx
Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating:
You can pick up a regular food guide at a health centre, but it’s more fun to personalize your own! On the internet, search for Health Canada’s Food Guide and then click on the “Make My Food Guide” tool: select the foods and activities you love, and voila — your individualized food guide pops up, ready to print and post on your fridge.
If you’re young, not so young, pregnant, vegetarian, allergic to milk, or a picky eater this is your chance to have a food guide that fits your needs.
Food Guide Tracker:
Remember those old fridge posters where you could check off a box each time you ate a healthy food? They’re back! Visit Health Canada’s Food Guide web page http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/index-eng.php and click on “My Food Guide Servings Tracker.” Trackers are especially great for pregnant women, athletes, waist watchers, and also the elderly who may want a gentle nudge to have more than toast and tea for supper. Kids love checking off the boxes, so these trackers are a real family favourite.
For the Curious:
The Center for Science in the Public Interest’s “Nutrition Action Healthletter” is enthusiastic about helping readers find healthier foods to enjoy while keeping the food industry and policy makers on their toes. Highlights can be found at http://www.cspinet.org/canada/
For the Very Curious:
Passionate foodies can delve into nutrition and food production news at either NYU Nutrition Professor Marion Nestle’s blog www.foodpolitics.com or by poring over great reports and listening to amazing pod casts from the Yale Rudd Center’s website: http://www.yaleruddcenter.org/podcasts.aspx
We hope that some of our favourite things become favourites of yours. Bon appetit!
Cathy Richards is a registered dietitian and works as a community nutritionist in Kelowna with Interior Health.
