We all know the importance of eating healthy and nutritious foods to fuel our bodies and our brains; but, having the plans in place to ensure we get all of the vitamins, good fats and proteins that we need can be a challenge. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. In this episode, we’ll be talking about how to build healthy eating habits with our guest, Brittany Raftis - a Registered Dietitian. Brittany will share some healthy cooking tips, bust myths about healthy eating, and talk about Canada’s new food guide. She also shares her favourite healthy recipe, tells us where we can go to find quick, healthy, and simple recipes online, and provides information about her personal practice: Brittany Raftis Nutrition. This episode is filled with tangible tips on how to reach your nutritional goals.

Healthy cooking tips

The key to eating well is just finding something that works best for you. It may sound simple, but everyone would benefit from filling half their plate with vegetables at every meal. Vegetables also fill you up and they keep everything else balanced. So that's one simple trick that you make sure that you're doing at every meal - making sure that you're getting veggies in there.

There's also a lot of evidence and research that supports the health benefits of swapping some of those meat proteins for more plant-based or vegetarian based options. This doesn't mean that you should go full vegetarian or become a vegan, but you can start by using a vegetarian protein (instead of a meat protein) at one dinner meal per week. You can use things like roasted chickpeas as a snack for that vegetarian protein or using beans or lentils as a meat substitute. Another suggestion would be to add tofu to your smoothies. You can also add beans and lentils to your salad or in a pasta dish.

In fact, with increasing age comes a decrease in muscle mass. It is really important for older adults to pay close attention to the amount of protein that they're getting because of that prevalence of muscle loss with increased age.

Myths about healthy eating

Myth #1: Packaged or canned foods are bad for you

While we generally want to eat a diet that has less processed foods and more whole foods, it doesn't mean that everything from a package or a can is bad for you. Frozen vegetables or canned chickpeas can be helpful in allowing us to eat well when we're busy or when you just don't feel like cooking a complex meal. Using frozen fruits or vegetables and canned beans makes cooking healthy meals more convenient and allows us to eat well without sacrificing nutritional quality.

Myth #2: It takes too long to cook healthy meals

While this can certainly be true in some cases, it is definitely not true all of the time. There are so many recipes out there that allow us to cook a healthy meal  in 30 minutes or less. If you're new to cooking or new to cooking at home it may take longer at first, but, eventually you get more comfortable and more efficient with the process. So, it is definitely possible to cook healthy meals at home without spending an hour or more in the kitchen.

Having frozen vegetables and fruit on hand, as well as canned beans, canned lentils, and canned chickpeas is really helpful for individuals in terms of not having to go shopping every other day. In particular, if you're shopping for fresh fruit and fresh vegetables, you have to essentially be going to the grocery store at least once a week because these things don't last forever in their fresh form. So having things in the freezer and in cans I think is so important, because you can stock your house with these healthy items when you do your bulk shopping. It's a lot easier to continue to include it in your everyday cooking when it's on hand in your house, versus having to go walk to the vegetable market to get some fresh produce to make sure that you're including it in your meal for the evening. If you have those foods available to throw together a quick meal, it will prevent you from either having to go to the grocery store or ordering takeout. Having these healthy foods on hand is the first step to eating well.

What is a "health halo"?

A “health halo” is basically when you hear a certain term and you automatically associate that term with being healthy. This is a challenge with a lot of the marketing tactics that are used. For example, “made with real fruit” is a phrase that typically has a health halo. While it is likely there is some real fruit in that packaged food, it has basically been so processed that the actual fiber and the nutrients that are counted in that fruit are fairly non-existent. Always read the labels and don't let that kind of simple term make the decision alone for you. In general, if you have to read it on the label to assess the amount of fruit content, there's probably not going to be enough to really count for much. So, remember to check the label and the list of ingredients.

Also, the term “natural” is a term that is really associated with being healthy. There are actually no laws regulating how the term “natural” is used on food packaging. Really anything on the market can be called natural and we automatically associate that with the products being healthier for us, which may not be the case. So, keep that in mind as well when you're shopping.

Is frozen fruit and vegetables nutritionally equivalent to fresh?

Yes, most often fruit and vegetables are frozen at the peak of their freshness. So, in some cases the frozen option could be even higher nutritionally. But most often there hasn't been anything added to frozen fruit as long as they're the only ingredient. So, they've just been frozen to prolong the nutrition value, but they are a great option.

Canada’s new food guide

The launch of the new food guide was a long time coming. The most significant change that most people will notice is the overall appearance. Previously we had the rainbow on the front with the four food groups, that's no longer there. Now there's a visual of a plate and rather than food groups, it shows filling half your plate with vegetables or fruit, which is kind of one food group, a quarter of your plate with protein and then a quarter of your plate with whole grains. Since we eat meals one at a time and we look at portions of that individual meal versus counting up what we eat in a total day, the new visual plate presentation is a lot more useful (you can learn more about Canada's new food guide here).

There is also a bigger focus on plant sources of protein. There are some vegetarian protein options that are very heart healthy for us and it is something that we would all benefit from introducing more.

Also, the guide is not meant to be kind of a static food guide like our last one was. It will be more of a living document that will be updated as the nutrition research changes and as we learn more about healthy eating.

What updates would our guest Brittany Raftis make to the guide?

She wishes that they separated the fruit and vegetables. While she thinks that filling half of our plates with vegetables is a great (and simple) tip, we typically use fruit in a different way with meals. So, she wishes that they would have separated the fruit and vegetables. Brittany also wishes that they separated the starchy vegetables like corn and potatoes into the category with the whole grains - because they're more similar nutritionally speaking. The whole grains right now are there as their own category – e.g., quinoa, low grain breads and whole grain rice. But, Brittany also wishes that they would have included the potatoes and corn and starchy vegetables in the whole grains category, and kept it separate from the non-starchy vegetables.

Brittany’s “go to” healthy recipes:

Our guest’s favourite healthy recipe is pasta loaded with vegetables and protein. She loves it because it is so simple, quick and easy. It is also how she uses up the leftovers she has in the fridge – she just throws everything in. Her favourite sauce is pesto (homemade with basil from the garden – which she freezes, or store-bought pesto when her fresh stuff runs out). She usually uses a frozen shrimp as a protein source, tosses in a bunch of vegetables and   cooks it similar to a stir fry method. She loves including vegetables like broccoli, peppers and then she’ll add in the pesto, and use a pasta as the base. She finds it to be a very satisfying meal. Since she throws tonnes of vegetables in there, it's still a healthy option and she just loves it!

It is so important, when you're eating well, to enjoy the food that you're consuming. If you're eating what you think is healthy and you're not enjoying it, then it's not going to be something that is sustainable.

Find more healthy recipes online

To find more healthy recipes online, head to realgoodeats.ca. There are some original recipes that are featured on the blog there, but also tonnes of recipes that Brittany has tried from different dietitians, food bloggers, and recipe developers. Most of the recipes featured on this site are quick and easy (many take less than 30 minutes to prepare) and many of the recipes are only one pan or one pot to help minimize clean-up. There are even some simple vegetarian recipes, if you want to give vegetarian cooking a try.

About “Brittany Raftis Nutrition”

Brittany’s practice is called “Brittany Raftis Nutrition”. If you're interested in learning more, you can head to the website www.braftisnutrition.com. She sees clients individually in her in-person practice in Burlington, ON; but, she also works remotely through online video consultation. She also does some work with sport and fitness nutrition, where she helps people who are very active or in a competitive sport to optimize their nutrition for performance. In her practice, Brittany also helps people change their mindset around food. We often have very negative associations with certain foods being bad for us, or us feeling guilty after we eat certain foods and Brittany finds that this thinking really sabotages our healthy eating efforts. So, a lot of the work that she does is around helping people build a more positive relationship with food. She wants to help people find balance in what they're eating, so they can enjoy their food and not sacrifice their social life. Seeing food as fuel is an important first step in making sustainable changes with nutrition. Brittany thinks that for any healthy eating plan or lifestyle to be sustainable, we have to make room for some treats. If you go to a birthday party and you have cake, enjoy it (in moderation).

To find out more about Brittany Raftis, you can find her at www.braftisnutrition.com or go to realgoodeats.ca for quick and easy meal ideas. Brittany is also on Instagram @brittanyraftisrd.