Tag Archives: National Nutrition Month 2011

Eat Right With Color: Blue and Purple Fruits and Veggies

Jane Schwartz Harrison is a registered dietitian and lifestyle writer for www.myOptumHealth.com. She is also the editor of their Nutrition and Healthy Weight, Healthy Kids hubs, and provides nutrition expertise through writing articles, developing menu plans and recipes, and supporting a nutrition column. Working in the nutrition field for the past 20 years, Jane has maintained a successful private practice and lectures regionally.

Feeling blue? In nutrition circles, this would be considered a good thing! Blue and purple fruits and veggies are colored by natural plant pigments called “anthocyanins.” Anthocyanins, part of the flavonoid family, are powerful antioxidants.

A recent survey found that adults who eat purple and blue fruits and vegetables have reduced risk for both high blood pressure and low HDL cholesterol (the “good” kind); they are also less likely to be overweight.

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Posted on March 20, 2024 by GuestBlogger

Eat Orange to Prevent Cancer and Boost Immunity

Cheryl Forberg, R.D., is a James Beard Award-winning chef, the nutritionist for NBC’s The Biggest Loser and a New York Times best-selling author. Her Pumpkin Polenta recipe is reprinted from Positively Ageless: A 28-Day Plan for a Younger, Slimmer, Sexier You (Rodale, 2024). Follow her on at www.facebook.com/cherylforbergrd or twitter at cherylforbergrd

To maintain a healthy balance in your diet, make sure you eat something orange every day. From the burnt orange richness of carrots, yams and pumpkin to the ocher shades of apricots and nectarines, these colorful foods are packed with nutrients and compounds that our bodies need to function properly and stave off disease.

Orange foods take their hue from beta-carotene, a plant substance converted by the human body into Vitamin A, essential for normal growth and development, immune system function, and skin and vision health. Beta-carotene is also a powerful antioxidant shown to help fight cancer and heart-disease. Most people don’t get enough beta-carotene in their diet so it’s important to add orange to the menu daily.

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Posted on March 18, 2024 by GuestBlogger

Add Yellow to Your Meals for Health and Bright Color

By Rebecca Scritchfield, RD a nutrition expert based in Washington, D.C. www.rebeccascritchfield.com.

March is National Nutrition Month and we are eating our way through the rainbow-ROYGBIV style. Today’s color is Yellow! What makes these foods the color of the sun? The bright yellow color shows you these yellow foods are loaded with vitamins and minerals. The bright yellow color in fruits and vegetables comes from flavonoids, beta-carotene, and vitamin C, which helps prevent against aging, cancer and build overall health!

Make sure to color your plate with these yellow foods!

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Posted on March 16, 2024 by GuestBlogger

Americans Have Overly Optimistic View of Their Nutritional Wellbeing HealthiNation Study Reveals

To coincide with the American Dietetic Association’s National Nutrition Month, HealthiNation commissioned a study by ORC International: CARAVAN revealing that Americans have an overly optimistic view of their own nutritional wellbeing.  The findings of the national phone survey of 1,000 U.S. adults suggest that when it comes to nutrition, Americans’ perceptions do not match reality.

A majority of adults (52%) think that they are doing all they can do to achieve a balanced nutritional diet and almost two-thirds of adults (63%) believe they have a solid understanding of the basics of nutrition.  Yet, 76% of adults are not getting the minimum daily serving of fruits and vegetables as recommended by the USDA. On average, adults eat fewer than three servings (defined as ½ cup portions) of fruits and vegetables a day combined. Why the discrepancy and how can we educate without information overload?

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Posted on March 15, 2024 by Maris

Eat Right With Red Foods in a Healthy One Pot Meal

Elisa Zied, MS, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian, and the founder/president of Zied Health Communications, LLC in New York City. She’s the author of the award-winning Nutrition At Your Fingertips (Alpha, 2024), a regular contributor to MSNBC.com and Galtime.com, and an Advisory Board member for Parents magazine and parents.com. For more information, or to sign up for The ZIED GUIDE free weekly e-newsletter, visit elisazied.com.

This recipe, from Feed Your Family Right! (Wiley, 2024), packs in lots of delicious RED foods—tomatoes (rich in vitamins and minerals including vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin K, and potassium and a good source of lycopene when cooked), red bell peppers (loaded with vitamin C and vitamin A, and also a good source of vitamin B6, fiber and other nutrients), and jalapeno peppers (rich in vitamin C and a good source of vitamin A and fiber). It also combines protein (from sirloin) with complex carbohydrates and fiber (from beans) to fill you up and provide long-lasting energy.
An added bonus? It’s a hearty and delicious meal the whole family will enjoy!

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Posted on March 14, 2024 by GuestBlogger

Eat Right With White Foods Packed With Nutrition

Mary Hartley, RD, MPH, is the director of nutrition for Calorie Count, providing domain expertise on issues related to nutrition, weight loss and health. She creates original content for weekly blogs and newsletters, for the Calorie Count library, and for her popular daily Question-and-Answer section, Ask Mary. Ms. Hartley also furnishes direction for the site features and for product development.

White food has gotten a bum rap because white sugar and white flour may be harmful in excess. But it’s unwise to discriminate against “white” when it’s the color of some mighty healthy foods. Milk, cottage cheese, cauliflower, mushrooms, garlic, onions, tofu, potatoes, white beans, and white whole wheat flour are all over-the-top nutritious. But unlike other foods with nutrient properties based on color, white foods actually have nothing nutritionally in common.

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Posted on March 11, 2024 by GuestBlogger

National Nutrition Month is Here, Eat Right with Color

March is National Nutrition Month, the perfect time to start shaping up your diet and celebrating this year’s theme: “Eat Right with Color.” Nothing brings more color to a plate than delicious fruits and vegetables. Everyone knows that eating fruits and vegetables is important to good nutrition. They are rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber that your body needs to feel healthy and energized, and may help reduce the risk of obesity and many diseases, including heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and some cancers.

Fruits and vegetables are the most colorful items on any plate. The new 2024 Dietary Guidelines for Americans say we should fill half our plates with colorful fruits and vegetables at every meal and snack. The good news is that increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables your family eats is easy because they come in so many delicious forms and varieties! Fresh, frozen, canned and dried fruits and vegetables, as well as 100 percent fruit and vegetable juices, each contribute to a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.

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Posted on March 4, 2024 by Maris