By Dr. Linda J. Dobberstein, DC, Board Certified in Clinical Nutrition
Happy March! As we welcome the month of March, thoughts turn to St Patrick’s Day, the first day of Spring, the return of Daylight Savings time, Easter, and other events. March is also Celebrate Nutrition Month! Long after the intentions of New Year’s Resolutions with healthier diets fall by the wayside and before the summer beach season, Celebrate Nutrition Month brings you the opportunity to polish up your nutritional knowledge and skills. Here is your chance to do so!
FDA Resources for Nutrition
The FDA declared March as Celebrate Nutrition Month. Over the years, the FDA has launched several campaigns and strategies to help inform the public about food and nutrition. This includes the Nutrition Facts Label campaign started in 2016 teaching people how to read a food label.
Other resources like MyPlate.gov emphasize the “five food groups - fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins, and dairy.” It also stresses the need to choose foods rich in dietary fiber, vitamin D, calcium, iron, and potassium and lower in saturated fats, salt/sodium, and added sugar.
Another FDA project is the Nutrition Innovation Strategy. This program “sets a strategic course for taking action to reduce preventable death and disease related to poor nutrition” by reading food labels and making healthy choices.
Need A Diet-Nutrient Calculator?
Numerous other websites and apps exist which help you learn about nutrition and your diet. Helpful resources include the free site https://tools.myfooddata.com/ with the Nutrition Facts Search, Recipe Nutrition Calculator, the Nutrient Ranking Tool, and much more.
With a few clicks you can determine your total calorie intake, protein, fat, carbohydrates, added sugars, vitamins, and minerals by entering the foods that you consumed for a meal, day, or week. You can keep track of your progress, learn which foods provide the highest amount of nutrients like potassium or folate, or identify foods that you are intolerant to, such as fructose. As you explore these options, take time to complete a diet log for a week or longer. You may find that you have some significant surprises and gaps in your nutritional status.
Your Diet Will Fall Short
Whether you consume a Western, Mediterranean, Scandinavian, Paleo-, Keto-, omnivore, plant-based, or any other diet, it will not fulfill 100% of the % Daily Value every day for all nutrients. Thus, it is important to identify the gaps and strive to replenish the nutrients missed in your diet. A lifetime of an imperfect diet directly affects your ability to age well and maintain a healthy lifespan! Now is a great time to get back on track with your nutritional skills and teach others too!
Nutritional Considerations to Meet Modern Challenges
Government and health care agencies focus on the % daily value (DV) which meets the most basic needs of your body to sustain life. The % DV, also known as the RDA or RDI, fail to take into consideration factors that increase your body’s nutritional needs and demands. The % DV assumes that you are healthy, have good digestion, absorption, and does not take stressors into account.
Stressors of All Types
Numerous factors interfere with or increase your nutritional demands. Sleep deprivation, high stress levels, sugar intake, poor digestion, impaired absorption, and increased intestinal permeability are common factors that increase your nutritional needs. Age-related decline, poorly fitting dentures or missing teeth, acquired mitochondrial injury and stress, inadequate access to quality foods, restrictive diets, eating disorders and food phobias, loneliness, not-enough time for food prep, lack of appetite, etc., affect nutritional needs. Illness and trauma increase nutritional needs for tissue repair and recovery, etc.
Agricultural practices, harvest and transport times, chemically or naturally ripened foods, and soil health affect the nutrient density of foods. Consumption of processed foods further stress, inflame, and increase oxidative stress in your body requiring more nutrient dense foods to offset these stressors.
There are also gene abnormalities, known as SNPs, that affect how well receptor sites work, activation and conversion of enzymes and proteins, and more that may require higher amounts of certain nutrients. A great example of this is the methylation SNPs like the MTHFR. One or more of these genes require much higher amounts of vitamin B12, folate, and vitamin B6 or other nutrients than the RDA.
Drugs deplete nutrients. Antibiotics, acid-blockers, aspirin and other NSAIDs, etc. interfere with nutrient absorption or disrupt the gut lining, further impairing your nutritional status. Medications impair liver or kidney function or injure mitochondria which increases oxidative stress levels requiring more nutrients to offset the cellular stress effects.
Moreover, there are chemical stressors and pollutants encountered by personal use or as a result of modern society. Alcohol, street-and legalized recreational drugs, tobacco and vaping products, sunscreens, personal hygiene products for all ages, cosmetics, hidden obesogens, diesel fumes, gasoline and petroleum products, construction materials, mold toxins, dental amalgams, medical imaging radiation and dyes, plastics and plasticizers, medical implants, manufacturing waste, polluted ground water, Agri-chemicals, GMO foods, Round-Up, glyphosate, and recently identified concerns with chlormequat are a small sample of toxic stressors we must deal with, but the list is endless.
The challenges affecting your nutritional needs are endless. They can be overwhelming, and it can be daunting to know what to do.
Where to Start
Whether you are a novice or expert in diet, health, and nutrition, it is important to review your personal habits and make mindful decisions. Optimize your nutritional status to manage the “chemical soup” of today’s world. Teach your children and grandchildren the skills of cooking, identifying real food, where it comes from, and perhaps even partake in some gardening this summer!
• Use an app or tools like https://tools.myfooddata.com/ to track your diet and nutritional intake.
• Eat breakfast with 20-30 grams of protein, some complex carbs, and good fats.
• Don’t skip lunch.
• Follow the Five Rules of The Leptin Diet. Follow meal timing and chrononutrition habits based on natural circadian rhythms.
• Avoid dietary fads and trends.
• Strive for organic whole foods at least 80-90% of the time.
• Avoid the “dirty dozen” foods most heavily contaminated with pesticides.
• Consume 5-13 servings of fruits and vegetables per day.
• Enjoy a wide variety of foods that supports a healthy gut microbiome.
Optimal nutrition is required for each cell in your body to function, repair, and maintain homeostasis. Every heartbeat, breath, movement, thought, auditory/hearing, vision, sense of smell, taste, touch – it all depends on you nourishing your body. Reproduction and fertility, sleep and repair, athletic and work activities – everything about your life requires that you feed your body water, protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, fibers, antioxidants, and phytonutrients.
If your diet falls short, then use high quality nutritional supplements. Just like quality, harvest, and preparation of food matters, so it does for supplements. Here are several resources to help guide you towards quality choices. If you need more personalized support and attention, please reach out to us at Wellness Resources. We are here to help!
