Nutrition plays an important part in everyone’s life – we all have to eat. For a caregiver, there is the need to provide proper nutrition for your loved one who may have special needs and restrictions, as well as for yourself as you strive to maintain good health. Many of us also have children or grandchildren whom we want to encourage to eat well to prevent illness and promote longevity.

We have all heard “you are what you eat” and that has never been truer than today with a proliferation of processed foods, fast-food restaurants and a “food as a favorite pastime” mentality. Not to mention popular cooking shows in which butter and salt often seem to be the two main ingredients.

There just seems to be something amiss when it is estimated that at least 20,000 people worldwide die every day from hunger or malnutrition – while two-thirds of Americans are overweight and one-third are considered obese. As many children go hungry in poverty-stricken countries, the annual revenue of the weight-loss industry in our own food-obsessed land is over twenty billion dollars.

When my husband was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, we made some drastic changes in our eating habits. Randy is drawn to what I consider fad diets; but as a nurse who has studied nutrition, I know they are not usually long-term solutions. The final straw was when he wanted to follow a plan centered around a handful of foods: greens; beans; onions; mushrooms; berries; and last but not least, seeds. Once before he had convinced me to join him on an all-bean diet that was as painful as it sounds. I really draw the line at bean brownies.

I knew I had to come up with something that we could both live with. Even though he assured me that it was a great plan and that tofu, liquid aminos and unfortified nutritional yeast were also allowed, I longed for a little more variety. After much research and study (I tend to stay away from nutritional advice that is focused on promoting supplements or other products), I came up with my own acronym – BLESS. This was a result of hearing someone pray before a meal, “Bless this food to our use,” a blessing I have heard many times, as you probably have as well. This time that proverbial light bulb went off in my head and I scribbled five words on a notepad, each preceded by “eat.” Based on my experiences and study of nutrition, I would use these to help guide me in developing my new plan for healthier eating: B – eat BETTER; L – eat LESS; E – eat EARLY; S – eat SLOWLY; S – eat SIMPLY SMART. Okay, there are six words but I couldn’t decide between simply and smart so decided to use both.

These are just common sense guidelines for good nutrition that can be personalized to fit individual lifestyles, likes, dislikes, and needs. Beginning next week, I will expound on each one with some ideas to help you adapt to a healthier way of eating. Bon appetit!

Caring Quote:  “Our food should be our medicine and our medicine should be our food.” – Hippocrates