The Burnaby Division of Family Practice is a non-profit society whose members are the family physicians who serve the Burnaby community. Our vision: patients and physicians achieving health and happiness. Our mission: to engage, support and mobilize family physicians in co-creating a network that will support the well-being of all members of the Burnaby community.
I was one of the nine founders of the Burnaby Division and the inaugural chair and medical lead. For the past decade, I've continued to lead the Burnaby Division's public health education initiative, the Empowering Patients program, providing unbiased health information — what every individual needs to know to live their healthiest life and navigate the health-care system.
Through an ongoing series of free public talks, initially in-person at schools, libraries and community centres and online with the start of the pandemic, I've presented key information about healthy lifestyle practices, preventive health, chronic disease management, emotional well-being and communicating with health-care providers.
My past presentations and key points handouts are freely available on the Division's website. I've often started my presentations with the question, "Who provides most of your health care?"
The answer: you. Real health care is self-care. Aside from the aspects of our health beyond our control, the best predictor of your future health are the habits you practice today.
I speak of the four foundations of your self-care. What you do (physical activity and rest). How you feel (emotional well-being). How you connect (healthy relationships). What you eat or put into your body (a healthy, balanced diet as opposed to toxic substances).
You are what you eat
Society is obsessed with food. While watching TV, commercials distract us with fast food and snacks. We all enjoy eating out as a treat and it's so easy to save time when we're too tired to cook. When we are working long hours, we might forget to eat until hunger redirects our attention and highjacks reason.
Though we think about food a lot, we don't always consider its effect on our health.
But you really are what you eat.
Why food matters
A healthy diet provides the building materials for strong bones, healthy organs and muscles. Vitamins, minerals and other nutrients promote healing, support your immune system and prevent cancer. A healthy diet provides energy to fuel your body. You wouldn't fill your car's gas tank with contaminated or poor quality fuel. Why would you do that to your body?
How food can harm
A diet too high in saturated fats, salt, calories or sugar can lead to obesity, osteoarthritis, narrowing of the arteries (causing strokes, angina and heart attacks), diabetes and high blood pressure. Insufficient calcium and vitamin D in your diet may cause impaired bone growth in children, osteoporosis (reduced bone density) and fractures. A diet too low in protein may lead to muscle weakness or wasting. Deficiencies in B12, folate or iron can cause anemia, fatigue, diminished endurance and cognitive impairment particularly in the elderly.
Why don’t we eat better?
Like the other foundations of self-care, healthy eating is dependent on our habits — the daily routines we carry on without reflection. We all have an emotional connection with food. After a hard day at school or work, we might crave comfort food, but Kraft Dinner, ice cream, a can of pop, a beer or a glass of wine shouldn't be enjoyed every day. How we eat may be intimately connected with family and cultural traditions Advertising fuels our natural cravings, and the cost of healthy, fresh food limits the quality of our diet.
But one of the greatest factors is knowledge.
A great place to start is Canada's Food Guide. There you'll find Health Canada's easy to understand science-based recommendations. Unlike the more complicated Canada's Food Guide of the past, the update is easy to understand and can be tailored to almost any budget and culture.
As a very basic guideline, you can divide your plate into quarters. Half your plate should be vegetables, one quarter protein (preferably low in saturated fats) and one quarter starches (preferably whole grain foods). Water should be your drink of choice. Check out Health Canada's website for a wealth of practical ideas in multiple languages.
Everyone is welcome to join me online with our next Empowering Patients talk, What You Should Know About Healthy Eating at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 13, 2025. I'll cover the essentials of a healthy diet, eating on a budget and the keys to making positive lifestyle changes. I'll review Canada's Food Guide recommendations and the pros and cons of intermittent fasting and the paleo and keto diets. For more information and registration, visit our website or call Leona at 604-259-4450.
Dr. Davidicus Wong has written for the Burnaby Now and Glacier Media since 1991.
