Nutritious choices made simple®
I LOVE this year’s National Nutrition Month® theme because it speaks to the fact that we are all unique beings and our physical needs and food preferences do vary. But what does “Personalize Your Plate” really mean, and how exactly does one achieve a personalized plate?
Lots of people show love through cooking or providing food for others. It’s an act of love as old as humankind. Feeding a baby is one of the first acts of love a mother bestows on her child. Helping an aged parent get a spoonful of soup to his or her mouth is a tender and touching turnabout that many of us experience. Throughout the lifecycle, we have many and varying opportunities to demonstrate our love and care through nourishment. Nourishment itself, however, goes further than nutrition, of course. Feeding the loves in our lives provides benefits you might not have considered.
Having diabetes is hard enough. Layer on food shopping questions about which products the best choices to help manage the condition and, well, it can make feeding yourself (or your loved one) a big, intimidating job. If you’re looking for an easier way to make food choices for someone with diabetes, Guiding Stars is here to help!
The release of updated Dietary Guidelines happens every 5 years. This allows improved scientific findings to be folded into the USDA’s healthy eating recommendations. At Guiding Stars, we closely examine updates to these guidelines. We’ll share what’s changed, and how you can fold the new recommendations into your eating patterns.
Keeping nutrition in mind during the holidays can be a struggle. And frankly, it’s the holidays. I think it’s okay to lighten up a bit on the nutrition focus. Just enjoy the season and all it brings—even if what it brings to your kitchen might not be your typical healthful fare.
When thinking about eating during the holiday season, mindfulness might not be the first thing that comes to mind! That’s okay…and expected, really. The holidays themselves and the various food scenarios that come with it mean different things to different people. One person’s traditional multi-day preparation for an elaborate Feast of 7 Fishes sounds like someone else’s recipe for multi-day anxiety, for example. But beyond that, this time of year often comes linked with busy-ness, stress, and worries.
This time of year, we see orange foods all around us. We associate orange with autumn, and also with energy and vibrancy. Of course, we know that some of our favorite orange foods come by their color naturally (although there are some instances where might be fooled—more on that later). Other foods we know are colored somehow to appear orange. This is a little primer on the various ways that foods can acquire their orangey hue—and why those methods may impact your food selection criteria.
Orange is one of my favorite colors (I use it as an accent color in my kitchen year ‘round). Frankly, I like a lot of foods that are orange, too! I’m not talking about puffed cheese snacks or candy corn (I don’t care for either). I’m going straight for the produce aisle here. If you need a refresher on why you should be putting all that golden goodness on your plates right now, this is it.