Chesprocott Health District reminds all that National Nutrition Month, which aims to raise awareness about the importance of healthy eating and encourage people to make positive changes to their diets and lifestyles.
Nutrition Month is an opportunity to educate people and provide them with tools they need to make healthy choices, including information about healthy food choices, recipes, cooking tips, and resources for finding healthy foods in their communities.
Nutrition Month is important because good nutrition is essential for good health. Eating a balanced diet that includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats can help prevent chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. It can also help maintain a healthy weight, improve energy levels, and enhance mental and emotional well-being.
How to Observe National Nutrition Month
•Move your body — Nutrition doesn’t end at what we eat. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics encourages making exercise an integral part of our lives. Try a new activity like Zumba, swimming, or spinning to keep workouts fresh and exciting.
•Find inspiration — Feeling stale in the kitchen? Pinterest provides many recipes and infinite inspiration to kick-start any nutrition journey. Picking up a new cookbook or following a fabulous food blogger works too!
•Meet with a dietitian — They’ll provide you with a detailed meal plan that makes sense for your lifestyle and goals. Many, if not most, health insurance plans cover the cost of dietitian services, and city health departments sometimes offer complimentary services or charge sliding-scale fees. Anyway, a healthier, happier outlook on life is priceless!
Five (Realistic) Ways to Eat Healthier This Month
•Go, go, H2O — We all know drinking water helps in nearly every aspect of wellness, but drinking the recommended amount daily can be tough. Electrolyte additives offer the same benefit, if not better, than drinking six or more glasses of water daily.
•Choose food over supplements — Though some sincerely lack vitamins and minerals that can’t be achieved through diet alone, most of the good things our bodies need come from food — not store-bought supplements. Research shows that certain supplements haven’t been tested to meet many purity and safety standards, making them unreliable sources of nutrition.
•Opt for color — When in doubt, throw some color on your plate — natural color. Bright greens from crunchy vegetables or vibrant reds from tangy fruit will not only make your meal Instagram-worthy, but they’ll also give you a healthy boost.
•Pack your lunch — Avoiding typical restaurants or fast-food grease may seem obvious. Still, according to Health Publishing, even more important than that is the ability to control portion sizes when you pack your own lunch. Try something fun, like a DIY Bento box!
•Shop the perimeter — Shopping supermarkets outside aisles ensures that you’re getting healthy alternatives to processed foods, such as produce, meat, and dairy. When you move inward, most, if not all, of the products contain unnecessary additives and sugar.
Overall, Nutrition Month is important because it helps to promote healthy eating habits and to raise awareness about the importance of nutrition for good health. By focusing on nutritious food month each year, we can encourage people to make positive changes to their diets and lifestyles that can impact health and well-being.