March is Nutrition Month

A Statement from The Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology:

Since 1980, the number of obese adults in Canada has doubled and the number of obese children has tripled! This pushes Canada into fifth place for number of obese adults and sixth place for obese children in the industrialized countries.

Hippocrates, who is considered the founder of Modern Medicine, said:

“Let food be thy medicine.”

How do we do this when we are overloaded with information on food?

New books on miracle diets land on the book shelves every year.

Social media and blogs tell us about the latest fad food and the latest “superfoods”.

My recommendation is to keep things simple:

1) Eat whole foods

2) Eat mostly plants--10 servings of vegetables and fruit daily. Eat more vegetables than fruit.

3) Avoid sugar sweetened beverages

4) Avoid highly processed foods

5) Out of sight out of mind. Keep food you want to avoid out of sight and keep food you want to eat such as vegetables easily accessible.

6) Portion control

7) Learn to read food labels

These simple measures can make a big difference in your daily nutrition intake. There’s no need to follow a fad diet or to consider the latest food trend if you’re following these simple rules.

However, you may have certain medical conditions that require individualizing your dietary needs. If so please check out our website and email me at doctor@mindfulmedicine.ca to find out how we can work with your needs.

I am also attaching a link to Dieticians of Canada, which has a wealth of information on nutrition:

http://www.dietitians.ca/Your-Health/Nutrition-Month/Nutrition-Month.aspx

March was Nutrition Month in Canada… why don’t you make April your own personal nutrition month?