March is National Nutrition Month!  This observance was created by the Academy of Nutritionists and Dietetics.  Their goal is to bring more awareness and education about the significance of food choices and physical activity. The theme this year is “Celebrate a World of Flavors”!

During March 2022, the Academy has weekly featured tasks which include encouragement to incorporate cultural foods and traditions into meals, learning how to read food labels, getting a referral from your doctor to see an RDN (Registered Dietician Nutritionist), creating a shopping list, and making meals at home.

With such a negative stigma around eating nutritionally dense foods, this is an opportunity for families, communities, and businesses to embrace how delicious whole foods are.  It is important to recognize that fun foods are a wonderful part of the human experience but should be a very small part of the diet when compared to plant-based items like fruits and vegetables.

You would never think of putting cheap gas in a Ferrari,

never cleaning your luxury car, and never changing the oil.  Yet, isn’t life more valuable than a Ferrari?  Why do so many people think it’s okay to put an abundance of toxic food in the body and expect it to function properly?

The benefits of eating healthier and moving more go far beyond the waistline.  Nutrition and exercise impact emotions, immunity, energy, sleep, skin, hair, nails, and cognitive skills. It affects hospitalizations, sick days at work, insurance rates, and relationships – basically every aspect of our lives!

A few other healthy nutritious notables that will help with the well-being of most adults are:

  • Strive to drink half of your body weight in ounces of water per day. This will keep you hydrated and help to curb your appetite.
  • Just because something is vegetarian or plant-based doesn’t mean it is healthy.
  • Be sensitive to internal cues your body is giving you when your stomach is acting up, or you are overweight, feeling sluggish, or cannot sleep. There may be a relationship between what you are eating and how you feel.
  • Model healthy eating for your children, so they are likely to make better choices when they are eating meals when you are not around.
  • Limit the number of unhealthy snack foods you purchase when shopping

For more information, visit eatright.org