Whenever someone hears “nutrition” or “diet,” there is often a myriad of reactions. Not all of them are positive. It seems like everyone has their own opinions and right now there are so many “diets” out there that it can be hard to know what’s right. Despite all of the conflicting information and plethora of choices when it comes to your nutrition needs, there are some fundamental principles that you can follow to improve your health in a meaningful way. These are taken from the health.gov guidelines and more information can be obtained there.
Limit calories from added sugars, saturated fats and reduce sodium intake
- Limit added sugars to less than 10% of total daily calories: sugar is in everything! Processed foods are a big area but also watch what kinds of beverages you consume.
- Saturated fat and Trans fat should be less than 10% of total daily calories: try replacing with unsaturated fats and limit trans as much as possible.
- Sodium: limit to less than 2,300 mg daily (for adults and children 14 years and older): most Americans get 50% more sodium than recommended.
- Alcohol: Limit to no more than 1 drink daily for women and no more than 2 for men. The Dietary Guidelines doesn’t recommend that people start drinking alcohol for any reason and many people shouldn’t drink.
Shift to Healthier Food and Beverage Choices
- Small changes can add up to a big benefit. Examples include: soda to water, potato chips to unsalted nuts, hummus instead of ranch dressing. 1
Other ideas:
- Incorporate hidden vegetables into meals such as cauliflower rice into hamburger patties, chopped zucchini into pasta sauce or add an additional veggie into soup.
- Turn at least one night a week into a “meatless” inspiration – such as Meatless Monday. See this month’s recipe for inspiration!
- Don’t keep food in the house that doesn’t support a healthful choice. If you know that you will eat an entire bag of chips in one sitting (guilty!), don’t buy them except as a rare treat.
Another aspect to the conversation and what might be more relevant is how to incorporate those good eating habits once you know what the guidelines are. This is the rough part of “self-care” that no one likes. Buckling down and creating time to meal prep or plan out recipes isn’t easy, it isn’t fun but if improving your nutrition is a priority for you, it is the only way.
- Chop all of your veggies before-hand and store in bags until ready to use.
- Put together “slow-cooker” or “insta-pot” meals and store in the fridge or freezer.
- Eat the same thing for breakfast or lunch – you don’t need something unique for every meal.
- Try an app like Mealime, Plan to Eat and Cook Smarts to help with recipe inspiration and grocery list planning.
- If it is in your budget, a meal delivery service like Hello Fresh can take away some of the guess-work.
- There’s no shame in pre-made salads and chicken, throw in a bowl and go!
- Prep your food separately so they can be put together in different combos. For example, ingredients for a casserole may also work for a pasta dish.
- Focus on one type of food with different ways to dress it up. For example, a “burrito bowl” can have different veggies, types of rice, protein and add-ons like salsa, avocado or hot sauce.
Hopefully this short article and list of tips will serve to help inspire and motivate you on an improved nutritional journey. Remember, start small and make sustainable changes, come up with a plan for prepping and don’t consider a stressful week a failure. Happy cooking!
Source: https://health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-10/DGA_Recommendations-At-A-Glance.pdf