By Mary Ann Lienhart Cross
County Extension Director, Purdue Extension Elkhart County

I know that many of you like to prepare food and share your creations with family, friends and co-workers. We celebrate many events and I don’t think we ever celebrate without food, do we? As I type this the Super Bowl hasn’t happened but I know that many of you are preparing and serving guests and you have special Super Bowl foods that you are looking forward to eating. If you have been waiting till the last of the national holidays to work at getting back to healthier eating I can type that the food parties are over.

I know there is Presidents Day with cherry pie, Valentine’s Day with chocolates and Saint Patrick’s Day with roast corned beef and cabbage. I know there is a food celebration everyday but it is time for taking care of your body and health and getting back to healthy eating.

All of these many changes in food, people, families, lifestyles, and activities have provided the opportunity for people to eat more food, and we all know how food is so much more convenient. Many of our great grandparents were seasonal eaters, that is, in the winter months you ate root vegetables that were stored in the root cellar. The meat you ate was determined by what you had preserved through drying, canning or freezing. The consumption of white flour, sugar, fatty baked goods, and processed foods was very small compared to today.

A question to ask yourself is “What are my eating habits?” or, “How are my family’s eating habits?” Remember, what you eat determines how your feel, how healthy you are, and how your body works. Another difference in your lifestyle compared to your ancestors is that we tend to do less physical work. So, the amount of food most of us need has changed. We also have a lot more information about food, such as the science of what the body needs to function so it is at its best.

Most of us just eat and we eat what we like and enjoy and don’t necessarily think about what our bodies need. Nutrition is the study of what food is made of and how our bodies use it. Nutrients are the chemical compounds found in foods that serve specific functions in the body. These nutrients are classified as carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and water. Each food is made up of many different nutrients in various amounts and combinations. When you eat food, the digestion process breaks the food down and allows the individual nutrients to be absorbed in your bloodstream.

So please make sure to eat your vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and low fat dairy.