This spring, why not clean house in more ways than one and get your clients to clean up their lifestyle too!
This spring, why not clean house in more ways than one and get your clients to clean up their lifestyle too! National Nutrition Month is a perfect time to help your clients to ditch the junk food and replace it with nutrient dense whole foods that can better help them to defend their health.
It is estimated that more than half of the U.S. population takes dietary supplements[1] to help maintain good health, but whole foods can provide valuable nutrients that protect against diseases and other maladies. This March during National Nutrition Month, you may ask your clients to think about their diet in terms of whole foods, rather than individual nutrients.
Recent research by Dr. David R. Jacobs, Mayo Professor of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, is showing that foods need to work together in "food synergy" for the body to be able to take advantage of all of the nutrients available. He states, "A diet pattern that includes whole, natural foods like walnuts, have a mixture of antioxidants, nutrients and vitamins to help defend good health."
Dr. Jacobs believes that, "we’ve trained the public to think in nutrients which is inappropriate. Nutrients are marginal effects; they’re not the coordinated effect of the whole food." He argues that people can get more bang for their nutritional buck by consuming whole, nutrient-dense foods, like walnuts, that have a myriad of beneficial components in one convenient, ready-to-eat package. As natural defenders of the human body, a single handful of walnuts (1 ounce; ¼ cup) provides significant nutritional value including 2.5 grams of alpha-linolenic acid (the plant-based omega-3 fatty acid), 4 grams of protein, and 2 grams of fiber.[2]
March is also a great time to take advantage of the spring produce and prepare delicious, "whole" dishes with our recipes for a nutritious Walnut Pesto or California Walnut Butter. Or why not get in the St. Patrick’s Day spirit with two of our "green" recipes, Sarah Copeland’s Creamy Green Walnut Shake and Joanne Weir’s Warm Asparagus Salad with Toasted Walnut Allioli Dressing?
[1] http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db61.htm
[2] One ounce of walnuts provides 18g of total fat, 2.5g of monounsaturated fat, 13 g of polyunsaturated fat, including 2.5 grams of alpha-linolenic acid – the plant-based omega-3; 2g of fiber; 4g of protein. (http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/cgi-bin/list_nut_edit.pl.
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