Canadians spend about 70 minutes a day on eating…
- Canadians spend about 60 minutes a day on eating, while the French spend about 133 minutes a day.
- Milk is the #1 source of riboflavin in the Canadian diet. Riboflavin keeps skin, eyes and nerves healthy and releases energy in cells.
- Milk is 87% water. The nutrients, like protein, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals are all found in the other 13%.
- Vitamin D helps our bodies absorb calcium from foods. At our latitude in Canada, we cannot make vitamin D from the sun for about half the year (October to March). As a result, a daily dietary source of vitamin D is important. There are only a few commonly consumed foods naturally rich in vitamin D. These include cod liver oil, salmon, mackerel and tuna. You can also get smaller amounts of vitamin D from egg yolks, liver and margarine. Milk in Canada is fortified with vitamin D so that 1 cup (250 mL) provides 100 IU.
- Fluid needs vary depending on your age and gender. Teens and adults need anywhere between 8 and 13 cups of fluid each day. Water is great, but milk, juice, soup and anything else you drink also count as fluid.
- Carbohydrate is stored as glycogen in muscles, where it is used as a source of quick energy. If you deplete your glycogen stores during long steady intense activity like marathon running, you will become fatigued and exhausted. The only way to refill muscle glycogen stores is by eating carbohydrate-rich foods. The best carbohydrate food choices are nutritious high carbohydrate foods from the four food groups such as fruit, potatoes, bread, pasta, rice, cereal, legumes, milk and fruit-flavoured yogurt.
- The carbohydrate, protein, fluid and electrolytes (like potassium) in chocolate milk make it a great sports recovery beverage. The carbohydrates refuel muscles, the protein helps muscle repair and the fluids and electrolytes help with rehydration. To learn more about how athletes are using chocolate milk as part of their training, visit www.poweredbychocolatemilk.com.
- Broccoli is a source of calcium. You can get 50 mg of calcium from a 3/4 cup (175 mL) portion. Adults aged 19–50 need 1000 mg of calcium every day.