We live in a world of ‘mixed signals’ about how to stay healthy and enjoy life and the risks and rewards of substance use. It can be hard to decide which suggestions are right. Health related guidelines and recommendations have been developed by scientists and health researchers to help Canadians make decisions that promote health. But these guidelines often fail to acknowledge their own limitations or to place their recommendations within the context of broader social and political factors. This lesson introduces some of these guidelines and recommendations that can provide a springboard for critically reviewing particular behaviours (eating, physical activity, substance use) and exploring how such guidelines might be useful in making decisions about health and well-being. Rather than trying to “sell” students on a specific behaviour or belief, the learning activities should help students build the skills to explore and seek to understand and manage their own health.