Food and Thought Newsletter - January 2025

December 30, 2024

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Start the New Year With New (Healthy) Eating Habits!
For many the new year marks a time of new beginnings, for looking ahead toward goals we want to achieve. One common goal is to eat healthier foods. Sometimes this is to lose weight, and sometimes it’s to get medical conditions like heart health or diabetes - under better control. Whatever the reason, there’s no time like the present to make healthier eating habits a part of all of our routines!

What Is Healthy Eating?
The term “healthy eating” is brought up a lot in the culture--at medical appointments, on morning talk shows, on social media, and in magazines. Even in this monthly newsletter! But what does it really mean? By definition, healthy eating is a pattern of behavior in which we are consistently choosing foods and beverages that provide our bodies with the nutrients they need to function properly. Many of the foods we eat have insufficient - or in some cases very little, if any - nutritional value! Foods that are a part of a healthy eating pattern include fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins like chicken and fish, low-fat or fat-free dairy, lactose-free milk, or fortified soy beverages and foods that are low in saturated fats and added sugar. Adding more of these foods to your diet will help establish a healthier eating pattern.

Serving Size Matters!
Eating healthy isn’t just about the types of foods we eat, but about the amounts of them. Serving size does matter! Yet many of us don’t know what a recommended serving size is. If you are unsure, there are simple ways to find out.
1. If the food you are eating comes in a package (box, bag, can, jar) there will be a nutrition label that gives you that (as well as other) helpful information!
2. If the food you are eating is fresh (ie., not in a package), this information is available online. Be sure to check a reputable site, such as nutrition.gov or nutritionvalue.org.

Sources for this month’s newsletter: have been taken from an online search engine that used AI generated data. All figures are approximations and may vary by brand, portion size, etc… https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/ https://www.chnnyc.org/portion-versus-serving-size/

The Food and Thought Program works to promote awareness and provide short term counselling around the important link between.
nutrition and emotional health. For more information or for a referral to the program, please contact the Food and Thought Program.

This work is supported by the Beverly and Addison Gilbert Hospital Community Benefits Community Grant Program and Mass General Brigham.

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