I get asked this question often: “What should my plate look like?” or “How do I eat to help reduce chronic pain?”

Canada’s new food guide came out a couple of months ago. It was updated for the first time in YEARS. While it is not perfect, it does include better recommendations compared to the old one.

Some of the key take-away points are:

Visually, this is how your plate should look:

Approximately 50% of your plate should consist of veggies, 25% high-quality carbs (including fruits, whole grains), and 25% healthy proteins (including nuts/seeds, legumes, organic tempeh, organic tofu, grass-finished local beef, organic skinless chicken breast, wild-caught fresh salmon).

Choose water as your beverage (not milk/juice/pop).

Choose more plant-based proteins (i.e. more lentils, beans, nuts, seeds, organic tofu, etc) over animal-based proteins (i.e. pork, bacon, sausage, etc.) which can contribute to inflammation.

Eat more fruits and vegetables which are high in fibre – about 50% of the plate should be vegetables and fruits should be included in the 25% of high-quality carbohydrates.

Include whole grains – be careful if you are gluten-intolerant as this can contribute to inflammation and prolong chronic pain.

Overall, you want to focus on eating WHOLE foods and less of the processed stuff that is not rich in nutrients and contributes to inflammation (and pain!). This means eating more colourful foods and less white and beige foods.

Click here to learn more about Canada’s Food Guide

If you’re interested in working with me or learning more about how making changes to your diet may help with chronic pain, be sure to book a FREE 15 min Discovery Call with me.

Looking for recipes for inspo? Click here!

What does your plate look like? Tag me in a pic on insta here.