March is National Nutrition Month, and with summer around the corner, now is a great time to start practicing healthy eating habits. Contrary to popular belief, healthy eating does not require eating tasteless foods. This month, enjoy the taste of healthy eating!
The Taste of Eating Right
It’s understood that we choose the foods we eat mainly based on the tastes and flavors we enjoy. We often groan when we hear the word diet with thoughts of eating plain fruits and vegetables coming to mind. But we’re here to remind you that healthy eating does not mean bland eating.
“Enjoy the Taste of Eating Right,” happens to be the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ theme for this year’s National Nutrition Month (NNM) campaign. Their campaign is designed to focus attention on the importance of making informed food decisions and developing sound eating habits. This year’s campaign includes nutrition tip-sheets for eating on the run, eating on a budget, and many other eating habits we commonly practice.
Discover Your Taste
An article from the Daily Herald points out that we have more than 10,000 taste buds, “why not give a couple of them a chance to explore healthy food options?” We’ve written about the five different tastes our body can detect in previous flavorfacts blogs. Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami (savory), have gone mainstream and become common terms for consumers describing their favorite and least favorite flavors.
Finding the flavors you prefer can help to narrow down which healthy foods to eat and what flavors to add to the dish. In our blog, “Supertaster, Medium-taster, Non-taster: Which are you?” we explain the differences between these categories on the taste-scale. The blog also includes a taste test designed to distinguish where you are on the scale and what flavors you might tend to enjoy.
Testing Your Preferences
We often use fats, sugar, and salts to boost the flavor within our cooking, but using too much of these ingredients can create an unhealthy eating experience. The Daily Herald article mentions popular techniques of increasing flavor and maintaining a healthy balanced meal.
1. Instead of sugar and salt, add fresh herbs and spices like smoked paprika, fresh basil, and cumin.
2. Dried ingredients, such as fruits, tomatoes, and red pepper flakes also provide flavor without adding fat.
3. Marinate your meats and seafood before cooking to infuse flavors within a dish.
4. Get bold with chipotle peppers, balsamic vinegar, and other strongly flavored ingredients like fresh garlic.
The article notes Pan-Glazed Chicken with Kale and Basil will tantalize your taste buds with the sweetness of the balsamic vinegar and honey standing up to the bitter flavors of the fresh kale. Give these suggestions a try and let us know how you plan to eat healthy this month.
The Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association of the United States (FEMA) was founded in 1909 and is the national association of the U.S. flavor industry. FEMA’s membership is comprised of flavor manufacturers, flavor users, flavor ingredient suppliers, and others with an interest in the U.S. flavor industry. The association is committed to ensuring a safe supply of flavor ingredients used in foods and beverages enjoyed by billions of men, women, and children around the world.