Table 3:

Diet, and sodium and alcohol intake: New or updated recommendations in the 2018 C-CHANGE harmonized guideline^*

Recommendation	Source guideline (key supporting reference)
All
To prevent hypertension and reduce blood pressure in hypertensive adults, consider reducing sodium intake toward 2000 mg (5 g of salt or 87 mmol of sodium) per day.	HC19
We suggest that all individuals be encouraged to moderate energy (caloric) intake to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight and adopt a healthy dietary pattern to lower their risk of cardiovascular disease: Mediterranean dietary pattern Portfolio dietary pattern DASH dietary pattern Dietary patterns high in nuts (≥ 30 g/d) Dietary patterns high in legumes (≥ 4 servings/wk) Dietary patterns high in olive oil (≥ 60 mL/d) Dietary patterns rich in fruits and vegetables (≥ 5 servings/d) Dietary patterns high in total fibre (≥ 30 g/d); and whole grains (≥ 3 servings/d) Low glycemic load or low glycemic index dietary patterns Vegetarian dietary patterns	CCS20
Diabetes
People with diabetes should be offered timely self-management education that is tailored to enhancing self-care practices and behaviours.	DC21
Overweight or obesity
A dietary plan for improving health for adults with obesity should be part of a weight-management strategy.	Obesity22
A comprehensive healthy lifestyle intervention is recommended for people with overweight and obesity.	Obesity23

Note: C-CHANGE = Canadian Cardiovascular Harmonized National Guidelines Endeavour, CCS = Canadian Cardiovascular Society – Dyslipidemia, DASH = Dietary Approaches to Stopping Hypertension, DC = Diabetes Canada (formerly Canadian Diabetes Association), HC = Hypertension Canada, Obesity = Obesity Canada.

^*All recommendations are considered strong recommendations (Box 1); the quality of evidence supporting each recommendation varies (see Appendix 1, available at www.cmaj.ca/lookup/suppl/doi:10-1503/cmaj.180194/-/DC1, for a detailed discussion of the supporting evidence. Key references are indicated in this table.)