Do you ever get frustrated by food and nutrition?
Maybe you can’t figure out why you feel bloated after eating certain foods, have family mealtimes that are mayhem or are unsure about which foods are best for a particular health condition.
I call these “food fights” – they represent times when you struggle with yourself or others about what to eat.
March is Nutrition Month and the 2017 theme is “Take the Fight out of Food.” For more information, tips, ideas and recipes, visit the website www.nutritionmonth2017.ca. To get you started here is an example of how to take the fight out of food!
Fad Foods: Ugh! How do I know which information to trust? Let’s face it. Not everything we read online is true. And while many of us know that, it’s still easy to be taken in by popular ideas we see online or hear from friends. How can we really separate food fact from fiction? Here is an example of a three-step problem-solving approach that was developed for Dietitians of Canada’s Nutrition Month 2017 campaign Take the Fight out of Food, which works quite well for nutritional concerns.
Spot the problem: There is so much nutrition information online and you might not be sure how to tell if something is a fad or know what to believe.
Get the facts: Some websites are more reliable than others. There is a resource on www.nutritionmonth2017.ca that can help you determine if facts you read online are accurate.
Try being more critical and ask yourself these questions when reading a site:
– is the website promising a quick fix or a miracle cure?;
– do I have reasons to mistrust the person, organization or company that runs the website?;
– are they trying to sell me something instead of educating me?;
– are the website writers unqualified to be giving me nutrition information?;
– do they have facts that sound too good to be true?;
– does the information come from personal opinions rather than scientific evidence?;
– are the claims based on a single study that may draw the wrong conclusion?
If you answer “yes” to most of these questions, the website may not be reliable.
Seek support: You can’t always trust everyone who has an opinion about food and nutrition. Instead, look for sites that aren’t trying to sell you something and that rely on science rather than opinions. Check the credentials of the writers, and look for sites written by regulated health professionals whose work is reviewed by other experts.
Here are some sights for reliable nutrition information as a place to get started:
– www.dietitians.ca;
– www.eatrightontario.ca;
– www.healthlinkbc.ca;
– www.healthycanadians.gc.ca; and
– www.dietitians.ca/Media/Member-Blogs.aspx.
Do you have a food fight that you struggle with? Try the three-step approach to Take the Fight out of Food and make your commitment official at www.nutritionmonth2017.ca.
For more information about any of the free services offered by the Minto-Mapleton Family Health Team, visit the website at www.mmfht.ca or call our Drayton office at 519-638-2110 or Clifford office at 519-327-4777.
Like the team on Facebook (Minto-Mapleton Family Health Team) and follow them on Twitter (@MintoMapleton) for healthy living tips and information on upcoming programs and events in the area.
Sarah Pink is a registered dietitian with the Mount Forest Family Health Team.
