National Nutrition Month

March is National Nutrition month, as recognized by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formally the American Dietetic Association). Here are some tips to help you eat more nutritious foods and cut back on the foods that are lower in nutrients. The key is not to add too many foods to what you are already eating, but to replace with healthy ones. Try one tip at a time and add more when you are successful.

• Make a goal to replace French fries with a vegetable. If you can choose between French fries, salad, broccoli, or a baked potato, make the best choice.

• Instead of corn, try a dark green, red, or orange vegetable instead.

• Switch out white bread for 100% whole wheat or 100% whole grain bread.

• Try brown rice instead of white rice or whole wheat pasta. With all whole grains, you may have to get used to it, but the extra fiber and nutrients are well worth the switch.

• Have fruit for dessert. Cut back on brownies, cake, cookies, and ice cream. Indulge your sweet tooth in fruit instead.

• Want an easy side dish? Try beans with your own mix of seasonings. They are inexpensive, easy to fix, and can be seasoned a lot of different ways. Save yourself time and money with that swap.

• Include one dairy serving at each meal. Choose from one cup of 1% or skim milk, low-fat or fat-free yogurt, or low-fat cheese. Soy milk, almond milk, or lactose-free milk can also be good choices, but make sure they have a similar amount of calcium, vitamin D, and protein when comparing the labels.

• Get some of your protein servings from seafood. The American Heart Association recommends two servings of fish per week to get the heart-healthy omega-3s that we need.

• Eliminate or greatly reduce SOFAS. SOFAS are solid fats and added sugars. Many processed foods, bakery treats, and restaurant foods are the sources of SOFAS in our diets. Cutting back on those also helps cut back on sodium too.

• Use vegetable oils for cooking instead of solid fats, such as olive, canola, corn, and soybean oil.  

• If your normal dinner consists of a cheeseburger and fries (a typical meal), it's easy to change that to meet the MyPlate recommendations. Take off half the bun and throw it away. Replace the French fries with a side salad or other colorful veggies. Even better, go for a plain cheeseburger (no cheese or mayo) and add low-fat or fat-free milk or yogurt on the side. This eliminates some extra fat from the mayo and makes your dairy choice healthier.  

• Let's say your normal lunch is a turkey sandwich on white bread with chips, a cookie, and a soda. How can you make this meal fit into MyPlate recommendations? One slice of bread instead of two with your turkey, switch out the chips for celery, carrots, green peppers or other veggies you like. Try fruit for dessert instead of the cookie. You can add the fruit to low-fat yogurt for a yummy parfait. Or, have low-fat milk instead of the yogurt. For an even better lunch, make your bread 100% whole grain instead of white.
  

For more information about healthy eating or National Nutrition month, visit the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics webpage. Another good resource is the USDA’s Choose My Plate webpage.