Nutrition at UTM
University life can offer many challenges and opportunities, and your food choices can have a significant impact on your energy level, mood, and on both academic and physical performance.
There is no one specific way of eating that is right for everyone. Most Registered Dietitians agree that the one term characterizing a balanced, nutritious diet is “flexible”. Your food choices should vary from meal to meal and day to day - depending on what food is available to you, how hungry you are, your individual health factors and level of physical activity, and other considerations.
Registered Dietitian
Figuring out what to eat for best health can be confusing: there is an overwhelming amount of information about diet and nutrition from friends, family, well-meaning health practitioners, and the media. Registered Dietitians have specialized training in the areas of diet and nutrition; they use evidence-based research to provide trustworthy, professional advice.
If you have questions about food and nutrition or your own diet, make an appointment with your campus Registered Dietitian. To book an individual appointment, call the HCC at 905-828-5255 or visit us at DV 1152 (around the corner from the bookstore). This is a free service for UTM students.
Talk to our Dietitian if you:
- Have questions about food and nutrition
- Need ideas for healthy, quick, and low-cost meals and snacks: check out our easier, student-friendly and nutritious recipes page.
- Would like to learn more about how to optimize your diet
- Are thinking of starting a new diet, for example vegetarian or vegan
- Have a condition that may be managed with a change in diet, for example PCOS, diabetes, IBS, celiac, etc.
- Have a nutritional deficiency, such as iron, vitamin B12 or vitamin D
- Would like to improve your relationship with food and your body
- Suffer from a food allergy or intolerance
- Feel that you could improve your energy levels or your sports/fitness performance
- Have questions about dietary or sport supplements
Need to cancel or reschedule an appointment? Please see cancellation policy for details.
As an alternative, you can call TeleHealth in Ontario to speak with a Dietitian about healthy eating information: Toll-free: 1-866-797-0000 | Toll-free TTY: 1-866-797-0007
Canada’s Food Guide outlines a very basic pattern of healthy eating, which includes lots of colourful vegetables & fruit, whole grains, and protein foods like lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, tofu and dairy. Eating these foods, in roughly the proportion shown in Canada’s Food Guide should give us approximately the amount of carbohydrates, protein, and fat that is thought to be ideal for the human body.
Quick Tip: veggies and fruits should fill up half of your plate, carbohydrates should fill up a quarter of your plate and protein should fill the last quarter of your plate.
Another important tip from Canada’s Food Guide is to make water your drink of choice for most meals.
Canada’s Food Guide no longer recommends “milk & alternatives”, so it is important to consider how to get sufficient calcium & Vitamin D through diet, supplements, or sun exposure.
Put Canada’s Food Guide into practice today!