March is National Nutrition Month, a campaign founded by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The purpose of the month of awareness is to educate people about the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, both through diet and physical activity.
The month also serves to call attention to the role nutritionists and dietitians play in providing essential information about proper nutrition habits to the public.
Erin Peisach, a registered dietitian and owner of Nutrition by Erin in Pikesville, said the month of awareness is a good way to shine a spotlight on the importance of nutrition.
"National Nutrition Month is wonderful because it brings a lot of exposure to the world of nutrition and dietetics, and as a dietitian, it's something that I think about all the time, but just to the general public it's a month devoted to spreading our message and increasing awareness about some of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' nutrition advice and their messages," she said. "They're the ones who come up with a theme each year of what the month topic will revolve around and then they provide dietitians access to the tools that we would need to educate and promote the awareness of National Nutrition Month."
This year's theme is "Bite into a Healthy Lifestyle," which is designed to encourage people to make good nutrition and fitness choices in an effort to better their overall health and wellness.
"It's just a time of year that we really focus on promoting nutrition and wellness in the public eye," said Angela Dobrzykowski, registered dietitian and nutritionist and owner of Dietitian Connection in Towson and Catonsville. "So it's just a time of year we focus intention on the importance of making good food choices and leading a healthy lifestyle, including physical activity, focusing on reducing stress and improving our sleep."
Though the idea of maintaining a healthy lifestyle may seem simple, for many, making the switch to more nutritious living can be quite difficult. Peisach said part of this struggle comes from the fact that many people are used to their eating patterns, and as such, may find it hard to change their ways.
"I think a lot of it just comes down to habit," she said. "You create your habits throughout your life and some people just fall into the cycle of 'Oh, I always did it this way' or 'I always eat this' … Making a change is very difficult and it's hard to make it last. I think when people really commit themselves to make it a lifestyle, then it's not so hard to do it, but if you're not willing to change your habits, you're not going to see success. It's really changing your behavior, one thing at a time. Maybe you're always eating french fries with your meal. OK, very simple: Let's switch that and get a side salad. [It's a] very small step that can [lead to] long-term changes."
To start making those positive changes, Diana Sugiuchi, registered dietitian and nutritionist and owner of Nourish Family Nutrition in Baltimore, said that beginning to replace restaurant meals with homemade is a good first step.
"I think that people can make healthy food choices by buying less processed foods, so more actual, real food, which means more cooking at home," she said. "Restaurant foods, packaged foods, just aren't going to be as healthy as things you would make at home from less processed ingredients. So even if you decide you're going to make one meal at home a week, that's an improvement. Instead of buying your lunch every day at work, bring your lunch sometimes. Any food that you make at home is going to be healthier than food you would get out."
To make sure you have what you need to make healthy meals, Dobrzykowski advises people to plan out their meals ahead of time.
"Definitely [I would advise] taking the time each day or maybe at the beginning of the week to plan your meals and snacks and just making sure you have options available and you're not in a situation where you're going to have to make a quick decision," she said.
As far as what to put on your plate, Dobrzykowski said it's important to read food labels to make sure you're getting a good value from your food.
"You want to look for foods that are lower in sugar, lower in saturated fat and trans fat, and they're higher in fiber, generally," she said. "But a lot of healthy foods don't have a food label — for instance, fruits and vegetables — so incorporating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables is a good way to be sure you're getting good nutrition."
Sugiuchi recommends that people consult MyPlate, the nutrition model that replaced the food pyramid in 2011.
"I would refer to the new MyPlate model that we're doing instead of the food guide pyramid," she said. "What that focuses is on half-plate veggies, quarter-plate starch, quarter-plate protein and just make sure you're having all of those elements with every meal so you're not excluding one group of food. I think it's a great place to start because it helps you to visualize what your plate should look like at every meal."
Though many people might be hesitant to try healthy foods, nutritionists say there are plenty of ways to prepare nutritious dishes so that they will appeal to every palate.
"Biggest [misconception] is that healthy food doesn't taste good, and I get it, I get where people would come up with that idea, but if it doesn't taste good, there are so many other ways to prepare your food to get it to taste just how you like it," Peisach said. "I also think if people say they don't like healthy food, if you're used to eating a lot of junk food, then the healthy food isn't going to taste so good, but over time you can change your taste preferences so you don't even want the junk food."
Dobrzykowski said it's important to give healthy eating a chance and be creative with preparation.
"[People] maybe just don't know quite how to prepare [healthy food] and really you can kind of retrain your taste buds, as well," she said. "I mean, for example, if they don't like vegetables, maybe incorporating different spices or a different way to prepare [the vegetables]; for example, roasting vegetables rather than steaming vegetables can really change the consistency and the flavor. Or adding fruit to a smoothie versus eating plain fruit. There's a lot of ways to prepare food and it's always good to try new things. You may surprise yourself."
Sugiuchi said she hopes people use National Nutrition Month as an opportunity to take a fresh look at nutrition, and possibly reconsider some previously held notions about what healthy eating is all about.
"I would hope that they would take away from it that these fad diets, cutting entire food groups out of your diet, just isn't the way to go," she said. "A healthy diet is incorporating a wide variety of foods. I would also hope that people would take away from it to think critically about nutrition information that they see. And also, food should taste good — it should be enjoyable — and there's a lot of healthy food that does taste good and is enjoyable, so I hope that people would explore a little and come up with some healthy favorites."
Reach Times Staff Reporter Elaina Clarke at elaina.clarke@communitytimes.com or 410-857-3316.
For more information:
For more information about National Nutrition Month, visit http://www.eatrightpro.org/resources/about-us.
