Why Complete Nutrition Is Important
Why Complete Nutrition Is Important To Your Health and Well-being…
Here are some tips for better meal planning to show why complete nutrition is important to you and your family’s health.
Meal planning becomes an important part of achieving optimal or complete nutrition. If you don’t have a plan for what you’re going to eat, you may end up grabbing whatever is fastest and most readily available.
This often means you’re consuming processed food or junk food. It’s a missed opportunity to get at least some nutrients into your system. Junk food often causes more harm than good.
Why Complete Nutrition Is Important – Veggies
What Is Meal Planning?
Meal planning is simply deciding in advance what you’re going to have to eat. In most cases people plan several days’ worth of meals and snacks. It makes shopping, cooking and preparing food, and eating, a much simpler and healthier process.
Here are nine steps to make meal planning fun and easy.
What are the 7 Biggest Lies about Nutrition?#1 Decide how often you can shop.
If you can only shop once a week then you’re going to want to plan an entire week’s worth of meals. If you can shop every three or four days then you only have to plan those meals.
#2 Plan for snacks too.
Include snacks into your meal planning. It’s too easy to grab something unhealthy when you don’t have a plan.
#3 Make it tasty.
Sure, you can plan to have carrots and celery stick for a snack. However, if you don’t like carrots and celery sticks, there’s a bigger risk of you letting that snack get moldy in the fridge while you go out for some fries. Make sure the recipes and foods you put into your meal plan are actually foods that you want to eat.
#4 Identify recipe sources.
Where are you going to find your meal ideas? Identify a handful of great sources of nutritious recipes. For example, you might begin to subscribe to a few nutritious eating blogs, or you might buy a few cookbooks.
#5 Create a system.
Create systems to organize and plan. For example, maybe you hit the supermarket on Wednesday and Sunday. Sit down at your table and make a full meal plan before you shop. Add ingredients from each recipe to your shopping list so you go to the store knowing exactly what you need to buy.
Why Complete Nutrition Is Important – Water Melon
#6 Get folks involved.
If you’re cooking for a family, get others involved in the meal planning – and maybe even the preparation! When people feel that they have a say in what is served, they tend to be more excited about it. You might, for example, let a child choose one meal a week. They can also help prepare that meal.
#7 Have contingency plans.
It always makes sense to have some backup food. You might not have leftovers that you expected from last night’s dinner and now you have nothing for lunch. If you have some backups then you’re ready to go.
#8 Make ahead.
If you live a super busy life (and who doesn’t), then consider a few make-ahead recipes. These are healthy recipes that you can prepare on the weekend, freeze, and thaw and heat for dinner. Casseroles are great for this. Crockpot recipes are also wonderful. You can put everything together in the morning and come home to dinner.
#9 Try something new.
It’s easy to get into a meal planning rut. Meatless Monday, taco Tuesday, noodles on Wednesday and so on. While that does provide a framework to make planning easier, it can also start to feel limiting. Try to include one new recipe each week. It’s good to feel excited about your food.
Meal planning can take some getting used to. It requires you to create a few new lifestyle habits. However, once you’ve integrated these habits into your routine, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it. It’s a great way to make sure that each meal is nutritious and delicious.
What are the 7 Biggest Lies about Nutrition?One of the nutrients that many people tend to be deficient in, especially those with specialty diets like a vegetarian, are the B vitamins. Next, well take a look at foods that are high in B vitamins so you can make sure to include some of these foods into your meal planning.
Foods High in B Vitamins
Did you know that there are eight B vitamins? They often work together but each one has a few specific jobs. For example, thiamin or B1 is necessary to make energy for your cells from the food that you eat.
It’s also an important part of making DNA and RNA. You really cannot do without this vitamin. So let’s take a look at each of the eight and provide a short description about what it does and what foods provide that specific B vitamin.
Thiamin
You can find this B vitamin in beans and lentils. You can also find it in many meat products, including read meat and pork. Vegetarians will be happy to know that it’s in many nuts and seeds as well as spinach, cauliflower and cruciferous vegetables.
Niacin
B3 is also an important part of creating energy for the cells. In addition, it synthesizes fatty acids and is important for your cardiovascular health. You can find niacin in fish, beef, and chicken as well as peanuts and beans and lentils. It’s also in whole grains.
Riboflavin
Very important for children and their development, B2 is required for energy production, growth, and controlling free radicals in the body. Salmon, beef, eggs, and green leafy and cruciferous veggies contain riboflavin. Also known as vitamin B2, riboflavin is a basic building block for normal growth and development.
Vitamin B5
B5 aka pantothenic acid, supports your body to produce energy. It’s found in lots of different sources, including both meat and vegetables. Avocados, organ meats, nuts and seeds, are all great sources of B5.
Vitamin B6
This is a vitamin that your body simply cannot do without. It’s essential for just about every cellular function in your body, including your hormones, your nervous system and your metabolism. If you eat meat, you won’t have a problem getting this nutrient. Don’t eat meat and you’ll have to look for fortified foods and dark leafy greens for B6.
Vitamin B7
B7 is also known as biotin. It’s found in yeast, dairy products and strawberries. It’s important for hair, skin, and nail health, as well as metabolism.
Folic Acid
Folic acid, or B9, is needed for the formation of red blood cells. It’s important in the development of fetuses, and you can find it in fortified foods and dark leafy greens.
Vitamin B12
This vitamin helps produce cellular energy and DNA synthesis as well as the formation of your red blood cells. It’s important. You can find it in animal products almost exclusively, including milk and eggs. If you’re a vegetarian or a vegan, look for fortified foods to get your B12.
B vitamins are important for optimal health and there are many B vitamins that you just cannot live without. Also, there are minerals that are essential for survival. We’ll explore those next and talk about how you can embrace mineral-rich foods into your daily diet.
Why Complete Nutrition Is Important – Cherries
Tips to Consume More Foods That Are High in Minerals
When you think about complete health and a well-rounded diet, you probably think about vitamins first. After all, we often hear words like “antioxidants” and “plant sterols” and “phytochemicals” before we hear words like “electrolytes” and “minerals.” Yet minerals are just as essential to your health and vitality as vitamins.
What are the 7 Biggest Lies about Nutrition?What Do Minerals Do?
Minerals actually play a very large role in a number of metabolic processes. At the cellular level they are an integral part of the energy production process. Your body cannot make energy from your food without minerals.
Minerals are also required for carrying nutrients to your body, as well as the hydration and elimination process. You probably already know that minerals are required for bone health, but did you know that minerals impact your hormones and your immune system too?
The bottom line is that minerals are equally important to your health and this is often overlooked. Let’s list the most important minerals first and then talk about adding them to your diet. The top three were mentioned earlier.
- Calcium
- Magnesium
- Potassium
- Phosphorus
- Selenium
- Copper
- Iron
- Boron
- Zinc
- Iodide
