June 2009
eMark – A New Way to Look at Food
The New Zealand Nutrition Foundation has recently launched a new website – www.emark.co.nz - to demystify and simplify healthy eating.
With so much food and nutrition information available to us, knowing what’s ‘right’ to eat can be confusing. Is it low fat, high carbs, high protein? Or is fat our friend and carbohydrate the enemy?
The eMark website allows you to plan meals based on your individual energy needs. By simply entering height, weight and activity levels into the meal planner, a full day’s menu is created. Menu items can easily be changed to suit individual taste and choice. Currently there are over 700 foods to choose for the meal plan and the list is growing.
Anyone can use the eMark system, no matter what age, height, weight or level of activity. Unlike most healthy eating plans, eMark classifies food and drink in terms of their nutritional value as a whole, rather than focusing on fat, sugar or sodium content. eMark doesn’t make any food good or bad, but tells you how much energy it will give you, how long it will keep you going, and how much of it to include in your diet.
The eMark is based on the latest scientific research and national guidelines, making it relevant to all New Zealanders. “Once you get the hang of it, you will find the eMark system a quick and easy way to make the right food choices for your lifestyle,” says the Foundation’s Chair, Fiona Carruthers. “This new website takes away the chore of meal planning, doing the work for you at the touch of a button.”