National Nutrition Month® 2014: “Enjoy the Taste of Eating Right”

March 4, 2014

I’m a nutrition consultant for various food and beverage companies, but my opinions are my own.

It’s March, and you know what that means.

As in years past, I want to share with you this year’s National Nutrition Month® (NNM) theme and remind you of some of the great things about registered dietitians and what we can do to help you make healthy choices! In case you haven’t heard of NNM before, it is “a nutrition education and information campaign created annually in March by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), to focus attention on the importance of making informed choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits.”*

Registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) are the nutrition experts who can help you make those life choices and healthy habits – and recent research shows that consumers are increasingly realizing the benefits of nutritionist advice. Woohoo! The role of an RDN is much more than providing individual counseling or teaching how to eat healthy to help people reach a healthy weight. RDNs help people manage chronic diseases, improve their performance in sports, assist in the treatment of eating disorders, and translate the science and media surrounding food and nutrition. This last role is of great importance, and something that I work hard to do, especially when it comes to sweetener-containing foods, which are often a scapegoat for the cause of our nation’s obesity epidemic — which they are not. There are facts about sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup that the media does not portray. Consumers are often confused about balanced diets, thanks in large part to sensational headlines that are often based on one aspect of a newly released study. Registered dietitian nutritionists help to reduce the confusion by providing consumers and the media with evidence-based science and research about nutrition facts to help you eat a healthy diet.

If you follow me on social media or this blog, you know that one of my other roles as an RDN is to develop delicious and healthy recipes for a balanced diet. So I was really excited when I saw this year’s NNM theme: “Enjoy the Taste of Eating Right.” According to the AND, consumer research confirms that taste matters and tops nutrition as the main reason why one food is purchased over another. That’s why the focus of NNM — and Nutritioulicious — is on combining taste and nutrition to create healthy meals that follow the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Throughout the month, check the National Nutrition Month Facebook page for healthy recipes, healthy eating tips, and events that can help you Enjoy the Taste of Eating Right. And as always, keep an eye out for my Nutritioulicious recipes, which will certainly help you achieve eating healthy!

What are you doing to celebrate National Nutrition Month?

*Source: EatingRight.org