What’s Your Score?
What is your score showing in March? Do you have the courage to find out?
Are you scoring high in the area of nutrition? Let’s find out. As I was looking up some facts about March, I noticed that it is National Nutrition Month and that the birthstone is aquamarine, which represents courage. Hmmm. What a combination. Courage is one of the tools necessary to make nutrition something that you give priority to. Good vs bad nutrition is a determining factor of health and quality of life. Your body is designed to run on a certain type of fuel and if that fuel is not present or available, eventually it will not perform correctly. Although this is a simple concept, many don’t quite understand the magnitude of its importance.
Let’s ask some questions and see what you know about nutrition:
- Is it better to get vitamins and minerals from fortified products or from natural food?
- Is taking vitamins and minerals in a pill just as good as getting them from food?
- Do processed foods have enough nutrients in them?
- Does “Sugar-Free” mean that it is better for you?
- Does “Fat-Free” mean that it is better for you?
Check your answers, what did you score?
Answers:
- No question about it. It is always better to get your vitamins and minerals from natural foods. Natural foods contain multiple nutrients and work together to give you the best combination possible to fuel the cells in your body, resulting in good health.
- Fortified foods are foods that have been processed and therefore have no nutritional value. The nutrients that are used in vitamin and mineral supplements are used to “fortify” or add more nutrients to it so that it can appear to be “healthy.” If you are eating a well-balanced meal each time, you will not need any food that is fortified.
- Processed foods are, well, processed. The act of processing them means that they take the part of the food out that might spoil (or change in color) so that it will keep longer and be more predictable in its appearance. Our society is very used to foods that are exactly the same each and every time, BUT at the expense of taking out most, if not all, the nutrients. This leaves you with something that has a long shelf life, plus it’s tasty and predictable. However, this so-called “food” is devoid of nutrition and won’t be of help in maintaining a healthy life.
- No! “Sugar-Free” usually means that a substance has been added that tastes sweet, but has no calories. These substances are not beneficial to your health, have no nutritional value and have been shown to contribute to many health problems including weight gain and gut issues, autoimmune conditions, and even cancer. It’s a neurotoxin!
- No! Unless it is a natural whole food that is naturally fat-free, like an apple. By the way, most fruits and vegetables are naturally fat-free, BUT they are not usually the ones with that label. “Fat-Free” foods are usually the processed foods that have been designed to have no or low fat. This may sound like a good idea, but in order for them to have a good taste, most of the time they have to add a ton of sugar to take the place of the bland flavor after taking out the fat.
What was your score? Did you get them all right?
If not I challenge you to be your own driver and do the research for yourself. Check out the facts. There are so many words on labels these days that are not quite exactly all they’re cracked up to be. Being your own driver is up to you. Steer yourself in the right direction by knowing what to look for and courageously making a stand by buying foods that promote a healthy life. Make the choice to ditch the processed foods and March right into this year with a plan to take care of you. You are worth it!
Coach Carolyn
