“Let thy food be thy medicine,” said Hippocrates (a very long time ago). While food isn’t technically medicine by today’s standard definition, eating a nutritious, plant-based diet can positively impact your health in many ways.
Good nutrition is also essential in keeping current and future generations of Americans healthy throughout their lives. People with healthy eating patterns tend to live longer and are at lower risk for serious health conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.
Each year during March, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics celebrates National Nutrition Month® by promoting the importance of making informed food choices while developing healthy eating and physical activity habits. This year's theme encourages you to fuel your future health — and the health of your family — by learning about the importance of choosing healthy nutrition habits now so you enter the next phase of your life feeling your best.
Easier said than done, right? If you’re like many Americans, we plan for the future in different ways, but choosing good nutrition in the moment isn’t always top of mind. How can you set yourself up for success and fuel your body for optimal health for today and tomorrow? Here are three ways to fuel the future with plant-based foods.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fewer than 1 in 10 children and adults eat the recommended daily amount of vegetables. One way to ensure you’re eating enough veggies every day? Meal plan ahead of time. Planning your meals allows you to add a variety of plant-based foods to your diet to optimize your nutrition throughout the day.
Meal planning also takes the guesswork out of what you’re going to eat at each meal. You eat in a variety of places — at home, at work, in restaurants, and maybe even in your car. For some of these places, you have more control over what choices are available than others. Since high-calorie foods are available at every turn, it’s important to make the time to plan ahead so you have healthy options available. Taking the time to plan a healthy evening meal can help you avoid a less-than-healthy “drive-through” dinner.
One easy way to meal plan ahead of time? Order plant-packed rootberry meals for convenient lunches or dinners each week.
Variety is the spice of life, and a varied diet is important in optimizing your future health by preventing nutritional imbalances and reducing the risk of disease. Eating a variety of plant-based foods each day helps ensure you’re always giving your body adequate nutrition.
One way to vary your diet? Incorporate a variety of plant-based proteins such as tofu, edamame, beans, peas, and yellow or green lentils. Nuts and seeds are also great options to help you meet your protein needs.
Not sure you have enough variety? When in doubt, add some color to your plate — natural color, that is! Bright, colorful fruits and vegetables will not only make your meals Instagram-worthy, but they’ll also give you a nutritious boost.
The type, quality, and amount of food that you consume each day plays a vital role in your overall health. Rootberry offers a variety of vegetables, grains, and protein sources to keep your diet varied and tastebuds interested in different flavors and textures.
Not sure what healthy plant-based eating looks like? Talk with a registered dietician who will separate facts from fads to give you evidence-based nutrition information that you can use to help fuel your future health.
A registered dietician can review your personal eating habits and current nutritional health, explain how your food choices impact your health both now and in the future, develop a personalized nutrition plan for you, and empower you to take charge of your health and well-being to live your life to the fullest.
We asked our on-staff dietician, Sydney Schumacher, MS, RD, about the best way to fuel your future health, and she said, “There’s no need to count calories or stress about meeting certain macronutrient goals each day. Just try to eat more plant-based foods more often (and fewer animal-based ones while you’re at it). Everyone can benefit from the health effects of increasing the proportion of plants on their plates. Thanks to the powerful effects of fiber, polyphenols, and antioxidants, when you eat more plants you set your future self up for a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer while improving blood pressure and cholesterol today. Best of all, eating more plants may help you live longer!”
If you want to learn how to eat smarter and include foods that you enjoy in a healthy lifestyle or you’d like help managing diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, or other chronic illnesses, consult a registered dietician today.
Our mission at rootberry is simple: to help you eat more plants more often to improve both your health and the environment for today and the future. Our fresh, prepared meals and snacks are always plant-based, dairy-free, gluten-free, and delicious.
Whether it’s starting the day off right by adding a healthy blueberry oat bar to your breakfast or fueling before an athletic event with a protein-packed vegan pasta, the foods you choose can make a real difference each day. You can order nutritious rootberry meals and snacks online for home delivery or find them at dozens of locations. Let rootberry help you fuel your future health today!
