A national celebration of one of my favorite topics began in 1970, armed with the mission: “to increase the public’s awareness of the importance of good nutrition and position American Dietetic Association (ADA) members as the authorities in nutrition.” Starting out as a week-long campaign, March became National Nutrition Month in 1980 and continues to this day.
Why not proclaim your own mission for National Nutrition Month this year? Whether you decide to gain a better understanding of traditional foods and make a plan to bring more into your menu, or you’re curious about foods that are beneficial to your brain and its optimal health, there is no wrong direction to go. Choose your mission and make it a priority.
It’s interesting to note that this movement has a rather checkered past. In the early 1990s, they teamed up with a popular fast food chain to spread their message about nutrition, which seems more than a little oxymoronic, yes? While I can appreciate wanting to reach as many people as possible, there are plenty of mixed messages in that collaboration.
Let’s look at our own mission as merely supporting the importance of a solid self-health education and thinking for yourself. After all, the powers that be have steered us in the wrong nutrition direction before, guided by the almighty dollar rather than consumer well-being.
The surest way to achieve your health goals is to have a firm understanding of nutrition. The know-how to nourish your body in an efficient, even pleasurable, way will give you the physical and mental strength needed to accomplish everything you want in life. So, make sure your mission this month will beef up your nutrition knowledge, fortifying the foundation of smart choices you already make for your health. And, no matter where you are along your self-health journey, there are loads of reliable resources out there to help.
Just getting started and need something simple and to the point? The Weston A. Price Foundation has just the thing: Healthy 4 Life, their dietary guidelines designed around the true superfoods for the human race.
Want to get a little bit of science behind the vitamins and minerals in your whole foods? Brush up on how Mother Nature creates the most balanced foods for us in Stephanie Anderson’s Why Your Doctor Offers Nutritional Supplements.
Interested in digging into the basics? Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, also from Weston A. Price, is an invaluable primer for your nutrition education.
Like some variety in your self-health education and want a groovy tote bag to boot? Check out the SRP Self-Health Starter Kit and flip between books, a CD, or a shopping guide as you learn the fundamentals behind life-giving nutrition.
Image from iStock/yacobchuk.
Paula Widish, author of Trophia: Simple Steps to Everyday Self-Health, is a freelance writer and self-healther. She loves nothing more than sharing tidbits of information she discovers with others. (Actually, she loves her family more than that—and probably bacon too.) Paula has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Public Relations and is a Certified Professional Life Coach through International Coach Academy.
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