Parul Kharod
By Parul Kharod
March is celebrated as National Nutrition Month, which is an annual campaign created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. During this month, everyone is invited to learn about making informed food choices and developing healthful eating and physical activity habits.
This year’s theme is, “Food Connects Us.”
These days, people are obsessed with micromanaging their nutrients – counting calories and carbs, weighing their food, worrying about supplements, and using various apps to track everything. In all this, we forget is food is our fuel.
Our diet and what we eat has deep connections to our cultures and traditions, and this has an impact on our health through various stages of life.
Certain meals or recipes have special memories associated with them. Some foods are only eaten during certain seasons or during a special festival. Thus, food connects us to our families and friends, and our roots.
Of course, we need to be mindful of what we eat, when we eat, and how much we eat. We do not need to micromanage everything. All we have to do is to keep some basic practices in mind to limit processed packaged products and eat foods that nourish our minds and bodies.
It is sad to hear that families may prepare two separate meals as the kids may not eat what the parents are eating. Food should connect everyone and not drive people apart. Food should not make you feel guilty or feel deprived.
Activities for National Nutrition Month and beyond:
• As a family, commit to trying a new fruit or vegetable each week during National Nutrition Month.
• Give family members a role in meal planning and let them pick out different recipes to try.
• Practice mindful eating by limiting screen time at mealtimes, including phones, computers, TV, and other devices.
• Commit to more plant-based meals — choose varieties of whole grains and pulses.
• Let everyone help with food preparation — a skill for people of all ages. If you have kids, there are age appropriate tasks they may enjoy learning how to do.
• Bring out the flavors of food by trying new herbs and spices.
• Visit different farmers’ markets every week.
• Learn to cook something different. Take a cooking class or try new recipes.
• Learn about where your food comes from. Look at each step of bread making, starting with harvesting the seeds. Have you thought about what happens in a commercial dairy farm or a poultry farm?
• Learn about community resources – visit/donate to food banks.
• Talk to your children about your favorite cultural foods and traditions, special foods that you grew up eating or any favorite memory.
• Teach your kids about the names of traditional foods in your mother tongue. Do they know/recognize fruits, vegetables, spices, dals, and know what they are called in your language?
• Try different cuisines from around the world.
• Share a meal with family or friends.
Another activity you can try, which is becoming very popular these days, is the 30 plants per week challenge. Research shows that people who eat at least 30 different plants per week have the healthiest gut microbiome. Healthy guts are very important for our physical and mental health.
The following count as plants: fruits, vegetables, fresh herbs, nuts, seeds, beans/legumes, and whole grains. You should try to reduce animal-based products (dairy, eggs, or any meat) while trying this challenge. Make a list of how many different plant foods you eat in a week. Also observe if you are eating the same few foods repeatedly or do you have variety.
Keep a record of which of the above-mentioned activities you tried with your family, and if it had any positive impact. Note down barriers or challenges and continue to work towards them.
Let us take this opportunity to make positive connections and build a healthy relationship with food.
Parul Kharod is a registered dietitian and licensed nutritionist and works as a Clinical Dietitian. She can be reached at [email protected]
