Nutritious choices made simple®
There are few ways we can modify, enhance, and boost a recipe to make it more likely that a developed dish will earn Guiding Stars. As you may know, a food earns one or more stars when it offers vitamins and minerals and is higher in fiber and heart healthy fat (including omega fats), while also being low in added salt, sugar, trans fats, and artificial colors. Making a recipe from ingredients that reflect these attributes means the recipe is more likely to earn Guiding Stars.
We know plant-based diets have benefits for sustainability. When followed as part of a balanced diet, carefully chosen plant-based products can also be part of a healthy diet. Some options, however, contain high amounts of saturated fat, sodium, or other negative attributes. Seek Guiding Stars-rated choices. This will ensure your plant-based diet is helping you meet all your health goals.
It’s National Nutrition Month® (NNM)! This year’s theme, “Personalize Your Plate” highlights that we are all unique with different nutrition needs, diet goals, and cultural backgrounds that guide our food choices. These differences can be honored while still following a healthy diet. Guiding Stars, which embraces a variety of foods while guiding you toward nutrient dense options, partners perfectly with this year’s NNM theme.
Keeping up with latest diet information and guidance on heart disease is an important part of reducing risk. Seek information from trusted resources to ensure that the recommendations you read about online should be adopted. Let’s briefly peek into what leading experts say about the connection between diet and heart disease.
It takes careful thought and consideration to honor loved ones in the era of Covid. Sharing and showing support, for those who need it most this winter, can and still should happen. Here are some ideas for showing that “food love” while staying safe!
When I became a mom, it was quickly clear to me that self-care was going to have to come in small ways, if it was going to come at all. I still recall how simple acts like arriving early to places so that I had minutes to myself while my daughter slept in my car were restorative. It was these small but impactful expressions of self-care that guided me then, and still do today, regardless of how stressful or busy life is.
When you shop with Guiding Stars, you know that you’re working toward your diet goals. You’re filling your shopping cart with foods that are nutritious and lower in negative attributes like added sugars and sodium. That said, there is no such thing as a perfect eater, nor a “perfect” cart. The goal of the Guiding Stars program is to guide you toward the “good, better, and best” options so that you can follow a balanced diet that works for you.
The foods we choose throughout the day play a significant role in determining how hungry or full we will be. Honoring hunger and nourishing our bodies with the “right” calories is a balancing act. Sure, a low-calorie beverage makes a lot of sense but, a low-calorie snack may not be the smartest choice. Choose a low-quality calorie option, and you’ll be hungry again soon (which means more calories). Choose a high-quality calorie, and you’ll be fuller longer. This means you’re less likely to eat more than you should over the course of a day. Finally, here’s the conundrum for calorie watchers: sometimes we need to eat more calories in the moment to ultimately eat fewer in the day (yup, you read that right).