By now, most of Canada has had some time to sink their teeth into the new 2019 Food Guide.

The new guide recommends having plenty of fruits and vegetables, eating protein-containing foods, choosing whole grain foods and making water your drink of choice.

Melanie Warken is the Public Health Nutritionist with the Saskatchewan Health Authority. She says there is more to the guide than just the food on it.

"I really appreciate the fact that it goes beyond the fact of what foods to eat. To consider some of those broader factors of where people are eating, when they're eating, why they're eating and how they're eating. I feel this new food guide will better meet the health needs of Canadians."

Not without controversy, there are those upset that the food guide is recommending plant-based protein over meat-based. Warken explains why that is.

"The recommendation to emphasize plant-based foods in a person's diet is really about reducing saturated fat, which tends to have a negative health impact on our heart health. Plant-based protein foods tend to provide a little more fibre and a little less saturated fat, which can be beneficial for a person's heart health."

This is a massive change compared to the four food groups many of us are used to, which were first introduced in Canada's Food Guide in 1977. The four groups of dairy, meat, grains, and fruits and vegetables is no more and has instead been shrunken down to three. Those three are fruits and vegetables, whole grains and proteins.

The presentation has also undergone a face-lift, with the 'food rainbow' being replaced with a dinner plate.

"If you look at it you can easily see the recommendation is to include half a plate of vegetables and fruit per meal, as well as a quarter plate whole grain and a quarter plate lean protein foods," says Warken. "I think the visual look of it is a big improvement."