March is National Nutrition Month which is an information campaign created annually by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The organization's campaign "focuses attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits".
This year marks the 40th anniversary of National Nutrition Month and the theme for 2013 is "Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day". Instead of creating periodic goals (such as infrequent annual resolutions), Americans should incorporate healthy choices into daily behaviors.
Optimal Solutions
One company is targeting the female demographic for improving dietary choices. Nature's Bounty has a line of Optimal Solutions products sold at big box retailers as well as on Amazon.com and DrugStore.com.
Nature's Bounty has generated buzz among women by steadily gaining shelf space at some of the world's biggest retailers. Vendors who compete in the diet food industry soon find out that distribution is a critical success factor. The Optimal Solutions line is found in, among others, Costco, CVS, Walgreens, Target, Shop Rite, Kmart, Albertson's, HEB, and Value Drug.
The company has attracted more than 220,000 fans on its Facebook page. The product offerings include:
- Complete Protein and Vitamin Shake Mix (contains a variety of vitamins and minerals in chocolate and vanilla flavors)
- Extra Strength Hair, Skin and Nails (coated caplets of 5,000 mcg of Biotin)
- Time Released Calcium
- Complete PMS Support Complex (softgel caplets that have Biotin and GLA for skin health and energy metabolism)
- Complete Menopause Support Complex
- Controlled Delivery Probiotics (release at targeted locations within the digestive system)
Optimal Solutions' protein and vitamin shakes have been among its top sellers. The 16-ounce chocolate shake is composed of a proprietary blend including whey and pea protein. Each serving contains 5 grams of fiber. There is a vanilla flavor, and like its chocolate counterpart, features 15 grams of protein per serving.
Eat Right Every Day
National Nutrition Month serves a reality check for millions of Americans who have failed to follow through on their New Year’s resolutions. According to the Journal of Clinical Psychology, half the U.S. population – or over 150 million Americans – makes yearly resolutions, and unsurprisingly, among the most popular items on the wish list are losing weight, exercising more, stop smoking, and money management.
According to British psychologist Richard Wiseman, 88 percent of those who make yearly resolutions fail to change their behavior. Most fail because they focus on the downside of not achieving their goals, according to the University of Hertfordshire study.
In other words, think healthy. Envision making better dietary choices, and do it on a daily basis. Don't focus on being fat or you'll stay fat. Reality is a printout of your mind.
A New York Times article entitled "The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food" details the strategies of the fast food industry in competing for what they refer to as "stomach share". The industry's success has resulted in one-third of Americans being obese.
In short, junk food is winning the war for the human digestive system and it's costing lives.
According to the Times article, chemists at research labs concoct recipes by "optimizing" levels of salt and sugar. Certain tastes trick the brain into desiring more product without the stomach feeling entirely full. Ordinary Americans are struggling each day against PhDs, MBAs, chemists, psychologists, and chemical engineers from some of the world's best schools who are constantly devising ways of getting all of us to eat "death foods".
National Nutrition Month is a campaign of developing sound eating habits. Fortunately, healthy alternatives abound.
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