The Importance of Nutrition

​This week for group night we welcomed Chris, an RN who is also a licensed nutritionist. She showed us the importance of paying attention to what we eat. It is possible to be at the right weight without medications and just by eating a healthy, balanced diet. At fifty-six, Chris is the same weight as she was when she was thirty-six and had her last child. Your body is a gift from God and we must be good stewards for the gifts he has given us. 

​Now that we’ve covered some basics, let’s go over good and bad fats. Monounsaturated fats are liquid at room temperate and include olive oil and oils from nuts. Polyunsaturated fats are also liquid and include oils from seeds such as sunflowers. Saturated fats are solid at room temperature and include butter. Lastly, trans fats should be avoided at all costs. They are also solids and often go through a process called hydrogenation. This is used to process foods to make them last longer. For example, natural peanut butter has a layer of oil that sits on top. Hydrogenated peanut butters such as Skippy use the process to make it smoother and more appealing.

If you want to be healthier, there are several steps you can take. Several websites such as MyPlate have several tools to help you plan meals and what ingredients should be avoided. Instead of drinking soda or athletic drinks, choose tea or water with a slice of ginger or cucumber. Sometimes what we eat depends on how we feel. This is called emotional eating. We do it to get rid of a bad feeling. We don’t know what we’re feeling and it is not the proper way to address it. Slow down and properly eat your food. Food won’t fix it. Look for other ways—talk, pet a dog, pray, or take a nap. It will pass, life happens. Eat in a positive way. Lastly, heavier foods are foods that are low in the glycemic index. They are high in protein and fiber. These include beans, sweet potatoes, and brown rice.

Nutrition is important because we need to have energy to do daily tasks. We need to maintain a healthy body weight and it also lowers the risk of health problems such as heart disease. A few easy things to start doing are to watch portion sizes and eats lots of foods that are dark green, red, and orange. Look on the packaging before eating any food because portion sizes are often smaller than they seem. 

Our Group Night (nutritious) snack!

Group Night is held at New Beginnings.  Every Thursday, we meet as a group to discuss important life skills and educational topics.  Discussions are led by community volunteers and can cover a broad range of topics.