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Twin Cities Mom Collective

National Nutrition Month®: Savor the Flavor for Eating Right

March is National Nutrition Month®. Each year, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics launches a themed campaign focused on educating the public on healthy eating. The theme for 2016 is Savor the Flavor for Eating Right. 

Most of us know that what we eat is important- but howwhywhen and where we eat are equally important! Eating right means enjoying food traditions and appreciating the pleasures, great flavors and social experiences that food can add to our lives. It serves as a reminder to develop a mindful eating pattern that includes a variety of nutritious, flavorful foods.

National Nutrition Month®: Savor the Flavor for Eating Right | Twin Cities Moms Blog

Here are some ways to Savor the Flavor for Eating Right:

Enjoy meals together as a family. The research is pretty clear on this one. Research indicates that family meals promote healthier eating and strengthen family relationships. Mealtimes are meant to be a fun experience for the whole family – sharing the pleasure of eating good food, talking about everyone’s day and interacting. I know this can be tough with hectic weeknight schedules or with really young kids who eat a very early dinner. Think about it. Mealtimes may be the only time of the day that the entire family is spending quality time together. If you already eat meals together as a family – great! Can you go a step further and eliminate technology during meals?

For those of us that need a little push, start by making mealtime a priority. Make it clear that everyone is expected to be home for dinner or be sitting down at the table for breakfast before school. If eating every meal together seems too hard right now, that’s ok. Take small steps like implementing family meals on the weekend and then one or two times during the week. If you have little ones that eat dinner super early, make an effort to sit and interact with them during dinner.

National Nutrition Month®: Savor the Flavor for Eating Right | Twin Cities Moms Blog

Slow down and really taste your food. This is another challenge in today’s busy world. I can’t tell you how many times I find myself mindlessly eating in the kitchen in an effort to eat something before one of the kids needs me. Before I know it, my food is gone and I didn’t even enjoy it. It’s important to take the time to sit down and experience eating with all of your senses. This is a fun activity to do with kids. Set out a variety of foods and play a tasting game. Take turns describing what the food tastes like – wow this carrot is sweet and crunchy. These cherry tomatoes are juicy! This green apple is sour. Unsweetened chocolate tastes bitter. (You get the idea.)

Another idea is to teach kids about the important role smell plays in the taste of foods. For this activity you’ll need a handful of different flavored jelly beans and a blindfold. Blindfold your kids and give them a jellybean to chew on while plugging their nose. Can they determine the flavor? Now tell them to unplug their nose. Can they figure it out now?

National Nutrition Month®: Savor the Flavor for Eating Right | Twin Cities Moms Blog

Add flavor by experimenting with herbs and spices. Most of us tend to stick to common herbs and spices in our cooking – basil, oregano, thyme, sage, and parsley. There isn’t anything wrong with those herbs but there are dozens of others out there that can add pizzaz to your meal. Don’t be afraid to experiment! Salt and fat are two of the common ways we add flavor to our food. By using herbs and spices we can add a lot of flavor without calories or sodium. Another advantage is that spices and herbs have many health benefits.

A few noteworthy spices:

  • Cinnamon: So versatile, I use it all the time in oatmeal, smoothies, baking and in my coffee. Cinnamon can lower blood sugar, cholesterol and boost memory.
  • Cayenne pepper helps aid in digestion, relieve pain and may even speed up metabolism. Try a pinch of cayenne in hot chocolate!
  • Sumac (common in Middle Eastern cooking) is high in antioxidants and can lower blood sugar and cholesterol. The lemony flavor works well with meats and vegetables.
  • Turmeric is currently in the spotlight for it’s anti-inflammatory properties. It may also be associated with slowing cancer and increasing the effectiveness of chemotherapy. It’s commonly used in Indian and Caribbean cooking. I’ve recently been adding turmeric to chicken broth and loving the results. Turmeric gives a bright yellow color to foods.

Some of my other favorites include curry powder, rosemary, smoked paprika, cilantro and cardamom.

Be mindful of sugar. We all know by now that most of us are eating way too much sugar. Unfortunately, limiting your intake of dessert and candy isn’t the whole solution. Sugar is found in everything – spaghetti sauce, salad dressings, crackers, cereals, sweetened yogurt, etc. The food industry loves adding sugar to food. We are programmed from birth to like the taste of sweet foods. The problem is that the more sugar we eat, the more we crave. It takes work to be mindful of sugar. You have to read labels and retrain your tastebuds! Reading food labels is a whole lesson in itself (mainly because the FDA doesn’t mandate labels to differentiate between natural occurring and added sugars in foods AND because there are dozens of sneaky names for sugar). This is a good article on how to spot sugar on food labels.

I recommend slowly retraining your tastebuds by making some swaps to your food. If you usually buy sweetened yogurt, try the plain unsweetened variety. You can still add a little honey and fruit to it, but it’s going to be a lot less sugar than the presweetened yogurt. When ordering your caramel latte, ask for half the amount of caramel syrup. Make your own salad dressings and tomato sauces and add just a touch of honey, maple syrup or sugar. Buy semisweet or dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate. Over time you will notice that your tastebuds adjust.

National Nutrition Month®: Savor the Flavor for Eating Right | Twin Cities Moms Blog

Start a new food tradition by getting kids involved in the kitchen. Make cooking and mealtime fun by turning it into a family event. You’ll create memories in the kitchen and teach kids the importance of eating right. Kids as young as two can help by mixing, stirring and pouring ingredients. Anyone with a toddler knows how much they love (ok, insist) on helping! It may be messy but remember that it’s part of the experience! Kids are more adventurous eaters if they have the opportunity to become involved in the kitchen.

Remember, mealtime should be a fun and positive experience for the whole family. So go ahead and play with your food, get lost in the pleasure of eating, experiment with flavors, really savor that meal and enjoy making memories with your family and friends around the dinner table.

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1 comment

Alice Seuffert March 2, 2016 at 1:11 PM

Great tips and I really appreciated the information about spices and their health benefits! Thanks!

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