BY SANDRA GUY
This year’s National Nutrition Month theme — perfect for the COVID era — “Eat Right, Bite by Bite” — sums up everyone’s heightened awareness to stay healthy and, at the same time, mindful and intentional.
The campaign for the month of March, created by the Chicago-based Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, aims to help people, especially those under stress and homebound, to achieve variety and balance in their diets.
Easier said than done, especially when the Zoom connection goes on the blink and the children start fighting over their class work. One of the best ways to go about it is to focus on the building blocks of a healthy body — B-complex vitamins.
They have a direct impact on your energy levels, brain function and cell metabolism.
Vitamin B complex is composed of eight B vitamins:
B-1 (Thiamine)
B-2 (Riboflavin)
B-3 (Niacin)
B-5 (Pantothenic acid)
B-6 (pyridoxine)
B-7 (biotin)
B-9 (folic acid)
B-12 (cobalamin)
The recommended daily allowance of B complex vitamins varies by age, gender, and condition. So check supplement details with your doctor.
But if you’re spending most of your time at home, start experimenting with new recipes and you’ll become accomplished at getting a healthy dose of B complex vitamins the healthy way — in foods.
You’ll have plenty of ingredients because B complex vitamins can be found in eggs, nuts, tuna, milk, salmon, shellfish, bananas, spinach and kale, and black beans and kidney beans.
Now, how do you eat them in a well-balanced diet?
Tools can help. One is MyPlate. Here are some of its suggestions:
- Make half your plate fruits and vegetables. Choose fresh, frozen, dried, or canned fruits.
- Make a quarter of your plate grains. Try oats, whole wheat bread, quinoa, brown rice and whole wheat pasta.
- Make a quarter of your plate proteins. Choose lean cuts of meat, skinless poultry, seafood, and eggs. Just beware of high sodium found in processed meats.
- Try low-fat or fat-free dairy. Choose low-fat or fat-free milk, yogurt, and fortified soymilk. Aim for low-fat yogurt that is also low in added sugars.
Just beware that certain underlying health conditions can prevent your body from properly absorbing vitamin B. You should talk with your doctor if you have Crohn’s disease, HIV, celiac disease, alcohol dependence, kidney conditions, rhumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis or inflammatory bowel disease.