Food Guide Facts: Background for Educators and Communicators

Return to the Fact Sheet List

3. Importance of Variety in Healthy Eating

The Variety Message

This fact sheet focuses on the importance of the directional statement: Enjoy a variety of foods from each group every day.

Eating many different kinds of foods, prepared in different ways, is what variety is all about. Variety promotes:

• an adequate intake of essential nutrients;
• the use of foods and cuisines enjoyed by different ethnic and cultural groups; and
• the positive and pleasurable aspects of eating by exploring a wide range of foods varying in colour, flavour and texture.

Variety also supports moderation in the consumption of fat, salt, caffeine and alcohol.

How Foods are Classified into Food Groups

The importance of variety in healthy eating is better understood once consumers know how foods are classified into groups.

Foods are classified into the four food groups and the Other Foods category primarily on the basis of these factors:

• Commodity or Agricultural Base - Foods originating from the same agricultural base are generally grouped together. For example, wheat as a grain, wheat flour and foods made with wheat flour such as cookies, cakes and other pastries are grouped together in Grain Products.
• Consumer's Use of Foods and How Foods Have Been Traditionally Classified - For example, legumes are placed in Meat & Alternatives because consumers often use them as a substitute for meat. If food classification had been based on only nutrient similarity, legumes would have been grouped with Grain Products.
• The Fact That Some Food Items Do Not Fit into a Food Group - Foods that do not fit into any of the four food groups are classified into the other Foods category.

Where Does Nutrition Come In?

Once foods are classified into food groups, it is possible to identify a set of key nutrients for each group as shown in the table on the reverse side.

Each food group provides its own set of key nutrients. However, there are also nutrient differences among foods within each group. Foods vary nutritionally because of natural differences and as a result of processing, enrichment and preparation methods.

That's why the Food Guide promotes variety through its directional statements.

Enjoy a variety of foods from each group every day encourages consumers to select:

• foods from all four food groups to benefit from the key nutrients contributed by each group and;
• a wide range of foods from within each food group since the nutrient content of foods within a group also varies.

Key Nutrients in Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating

Each food group is essential. That's because it provides its own set of nutrients.

View the Key Nutrients in Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating table

The other directional statements support the principle of variety by giving consumers guidance on how to increase the variety of foods they consume. The general statement choose lower-fat foods more often encourages consumers to focus on lower-fat foods.

The directional statements for Grain Products and Vegetables & Fruit focus on nutrient-rich foods by encouraging consumers to choose whole grains, enriched grain products, dark green and orange vegetables and orange fruit more often.

In addition, the directional statements for Milk Products and Meat & Alternatives emphasize lower-fat choices. They advise consumers to choose lower-fat milk products, dried peas, beans and lentils, and leaner meats, poultry and fish more often.

Foods within the Other Foods category also contribute to variety. The Food Guide directs consumers to choose foods higher in fat or Calories in moderation.

The following examples point out how foods vary nutritionally and show, in a practical way, why the principle of variety is a cornerstone of healthy eating.

Grain Products

• Whole grains contain more fibre and zinc than refined Grain Products.
• Enriched cereal and pasta contain more iron and B vitamins than unenriched.
• Baked goods like cookies, cakes and croissants contribute more fat and sugar than staple Grain Products such as bread or rice.

Vegetables & Fruit

• Dark green vegetables such as Brussels sprouts and spinach, orange
  vegetables like carrots and squash and orange fruit like cantaloupe and apricots are rich in vitamin A or folacin.
• Citrus fruits are sources of vitamin C whereas bananas are not.
• Fresh, frozen and canned vegetables are nutritionally similar but some canned vegetables contain sodium in the form of salt.
• Fat content of vegetables varies depending on the way they are prepared. For example, french fries are higher in fat than plain baked potatoes.

Milk Products

• All fluid milk (skim, 1%, 2% and whole milk) contains almost equal amounts of vitamins A and D.
• Milk Products like yogourt and cheese do not contain any added vitamin D.
• Cottage cheese is lower in calcium than other Milk Products.
• The fat content varies widely among Milk Products: skim and 1% milk contain very little fat whereas sour cream, ice cream, coffee and whipping creams are higher-fat Milk Products.

Meat & Alternatives

• Some red meats contain twice as much iron as chicken or fish.
• Only foods of animal origin are sources of vitamin B12.
• Legumes are the only food in this group that provide significant amounts of starch and fibre.
• The fat content of foods in this group varies widely: lentils and some fish contain very little fat whereas some cold cuts such as salami are higher-fat foods.

Other Foods

• The nutritional contributions of the foods in this category are as diverse as the foods themselves.