Nutrition & Eating Disorders Awareness

March is National Nutrition Month, and Eating Disorders Week is February 25-March 3.  Both deserve attention for a healthy mind and body.

The US Department of Agriculture released a "food pyramid" in 1992 and updated this with "MyPyramid" in 2005.  The pyramid provides suggested food guidelines for daily consumption.  Here's a brief summary:¹

• The orange represents whole grains - bread, cereal, crackers, rice and pasta.

• The green represents dark green and orange vegetables (ex: spinach, broccoli, carrots, yams), dry beans and peas.

• The red represents a variety of fruit, which may be eaten fresh, frozen, canned or dried.  Fruit juices aren't recommended because the processing refines the fruit sugars.

• The blue represents low-fat or fat-free dairy products, an excellent source of calcium that is easily absorbed by the body.

• The purple represents low-fat or lean meats, poultry, fish, nuts and seeds.

The proportions of the pyramid suggest that most of your daily calories come from whole grains, vegetables and dairy products, although each person's nutritional and caloric needs vary.  (It's worth noting that the food pyramid is not without controversy.  Some researchers advocate eating fewer grains, more vegetables and less meat than the USDA recommends.)

Moms everywhere admonish their children at the dinner table: "Eat your vegetables!"  Could it be that Mom was... right?  Although eating vegetables won't protect you from all illnesses, some long-running studies have demonstrated that people who eat a variety and quantity of fruits and vegetables have lower risks for heart disease, stroke and possibly some cancers.²  Adding just one serving of vegetables per day can decrease your risk of heart disease. (A serving of canned fruit or fresh/cooked vegetables is about half the size of a tennis ball.)

There are many different fruits and vegetables in an astonishing variety of colors, flavors and textures.  You can literally eat a food rainbow - tomatoes, carrots, bananas, broccoli, blueberries, black olives, and egg plant.

Eating Disorders
It can be difficult to tell the difference between someone who's perpetually on a diet and someone who's crossed the line into an eating disorder.  With an eating disorder, people become obsessed with food - eating or not eating - and seek to be in control of their weight.  The two most common eating disorders are anorexia (limiting calories to point of self starvation) and bulimia (binging - excessive food intake, which may be followed by purging - vomiting).  Both can lead to long-term health consequences, including damage to the heart and other organs, which may cause death.

Eating disorders are treatable with a combination of intensive therapy and behavioral modifications.  If you have questions or concerns about eating patterns for yourself or your children, contact your primary care physician or your EAP for help.

Reference: 
1 www.mypyramid.gov/
2 www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/fruits.html
For Kids:  www.mypyramid.gov/kids
www.cfsan.fda.gov/~ear/hwm/labelman.html - interactive label-reading learning program
www.eatright.org
www.nationaleatingdisorders.org