This month, building on our topic of Medical Resources and Information for Better Health, we’ve identified healthy eating as a key to better health.
One of the most powerful elements of health, is eating smart. What we put in our body is something we have 100% control over.
Micheal Pollan, a favorite around here at UNPHC, has some great advice about eating:
“Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.”
And…
“Eat Food. Not too much. Mainly plants.”
We asked Marilyn Albertson to offer some thoughts on the subject of healthy eating:
From Marilyn Albertson, M.S., CFCS
Extension Associate Professor, Family & Consumer Sciences & 4-H
Utah State University Extension – Salt Lake County
“Healthy eating can prevent illness and chronic disease and provide you with more energy so you can be alert, make better decisions and simply enjoy life more. This includes eating a well-balanced diet and having a healthy relationship with food. Here is an easy way to check your habits. Take a round paper plate and divide it into portions like the ChooseMYPLATE.gov picture below.
Write in each quadrant what you ate today or yesterday related to each category. Did your plate represent all the food groups? Was half, or more, of your lunch and dinner fruits and vegetables? Were your grains whole grains? Was your protein high quality? Okay, now evaluate your relationship with food: How do you feel about food? Do you tend to overeat or eat processed or high sugar foods when you are stressed, feeling down or eating alone? Do you take the time to eat and savor the flavors or do you hurry through your meal, not paying attention to what you are eating? Does eating bring you a feeling of pleasure or do you eat just to feel full? Try adding some new foods to your diet or experiment with a new recipe to make eating more enjoyable. Good luck eating smart while enjoying the food you eat.”
To further your pursuit of health, here is a link of 16 TED talks that will make you smarter about food.
(For more information on ‘Choose My Plate’ click on the image above.)
