Your Care Instructions
A healthy, balanced diet gives your body nutrients. Nutrients are like fuel for your body. They give you energy. And they keep your heart beating, your brain active, and your muscles working. They also help to build and strengthen bones, muscles, and other body tissues.
Your body needs three major nutrients for energy. These are carbohydrate, protein, and fat.
- Carbohydrate provides energy for your brain, muscles, heart, and lungs. It is found in bread, cereal, rice, pasta, fruits, vegetables, milk, yogurt, and sugar.
- Protein provides energy and helps build and repair your body's cells. It is found in meat, poultry, fish, cooked dry beans, cheese, tofu and other soy products, nuts and seeds, and milk and alternatives.
- Fat provides energy, helps build the covering around nerves in your body, and helps make hormones. Fat is found in butter, margarine, oil, mayonnaise, salad dressing, and nuts. It is also found in most foods that come from animals, such as meat and milk products. Many foods also have fat added to them.
Your body needs all three of these nutrients to be healthy. If you choose a good mix of foods, you can help your body get the right amounts of carbohydrate, protein, and fat. It can also keep you at a healthy weight.
Follow-up care is a key part of your treatment and safety. Be sure to make and go to all appointments, and call your doctor or nurse advice line (811 in most provinces and territories) if you are having problems. It's also a good idea to know your test results and keep a list of the medicines you take.
How can you care for yourself at home?
Eat a balanced diet
Go to Canada's Food Guide at https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/to learn how to eat a variety of healthy foods to meet your nutritional needs.
- Vegetables and fruits. Be sure to include a variety of colours including pears, apples, berries, broccoli, cabbage, and leafy greens.
- Whole grain foods. Enjoy a variety of whole grains including quinoa, whole grain pasta, whole grain bread, oatmeal, or brown rice.
- Protein foods. Try protein foods like eggs, beans, fish, poultry, lean meat, peanut butter, milk or fortified soy beverages, yogurt, and cheese.
- Healthy fats. Choose foods with healthy fats like nuts, seeds, avocado, fatty fish, and corn or olive oil.
Stay fuelled all day
- Start your day with breakfast. If you don't have time to sit down for a bowl of cereal in the morning, try something that you can eat "on the go." Try a piece of whole wheat bread with peanut butter or a container of yogurt with frozen berries mixed in.
- Eat regularly scheduled meals and snacks. If you miss a meal, you may overeat at the next meal. Or you may choose a less healthy snack.
- Drink enough water. (If you have kidney, heart, or liver disease and have to limit fluids, talk with your doctor before you increase your fluid intake.)
Where can you learn more?
Go to https://www.healthwise.net/patientEd
Enter Z059 in the search box to learn more about "Food as Fuel: Care Instructions".
Current as of: February 28, 2023
Author: Healthwise Staff
Clinical Review Board
All Healthwise education is reviewed by a team that includes physicians, nurses, advanced practitioners, registered dieticians, and other healthcare professionals.
