How to Know What Nutrition Advice to Follow

There is a way to navigate information with confidence, to know what is best for you and your unique needs. To know what will best serve you and what information or practices are best to let go of because they’re not aligned with you. So let’s dive into exactly what questions to ask yourself when exploring nutrition advice, so you can experience this confidence and ease. Also, we share with you the Australian Dietary guidelines developed by the National Health and Medical Research Council, working with independent experts in nutrition and a couple of tips too!

5 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF TO SEE IF YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO THAT NUTRITION ADVICE

Being intentional is key. When looking at new information, you want to think first about yourself, what you’re seeking and what you need from this nutrition information. As opposed to letting the compelling nature of the information suck you in.

No matter what nutrition advice you seek, there are a few simple questions you can ask yourself. These questions will streamline your decision-making process! You’ll immediately know whether or not to buy into a trend or follow a new diet.

Here is what you need to keep in mind to see if this is really worth your time, energy, and resources.

1. What do You Want To Achieve By Absorbing This Nutrition Information?

The most important thing to consider on your wellness journey is your wellness vision. Oftentimes, this simple goal is overlooked.

Your wellness vision is what you want and desire your life to look like. It’s your all-encompassing, “end-game” wellness goal if you will. A detailed vision and compilation of overarching goals. How you would ideally design your life — from how you feel, think and act to how you show up daily. It may even outline what you may do throughout the day, from the moment you wake up to the moment you fall asleep.

On a deeper level, it allows you to explore your wants, desires, and core needs without judgment or external pressure.

But most importantly, it includes why you want those things.

When you have a detailed vision of wellness, it’s easy for you to filter nutrition and wellness information. You only focus on the things that align with what you want to experience. You’re better able to decipher what will support you and what will not.

Once you have a wellness vision created, you can then ask yourself if the nutrition advice you’re hearing aligns with it.

2. What is Your Intention for Wanting to Listen to That Nutrition Advice?

With your wellness vision in mind, start by asking yourself the following, “What is your intention behind wanting to try that advice?”. This is often the most important question to consider.

With full honesty, pause and reflect, “Is this something I want to try?”, “Why do I want to try this and what is my motivation behind it?”.

Is it because it’s aligned with your wellness vision? Or, is it simply because you’re being “influenced” by the touted benefits that someone else boasted about? Because a few people online look like they’re “thriving” on it?

I’m all about “guinea pigging” things to see what works and what doesn’t work. I did this for years in graduate school as a way to explore and discover certain foods and ways of eating to determine what agreed with my body and optimized my health, as opposed to those that didn’t.

But, I tested the things that I truly thought would support my wellness vision. Such as giving up 3 cups of coffee a day and replacing them with herbal tea, or reducing my stress by upping my meditation game.

The most important thing here is to ask yourself if this advice will support your wellness vision. If yes or you think so, then try it out. If not, there’s no need to move forward.

3. Is The Nutrition Advice Coming From a Credible Source?

In my opinion, this is the most important question to ask yourself in the health and wellness field.

Many of the things you see online today are just social media trends. They don’t have any data to back up their claims, or studies to show the long-term impact.

Seek out valuable resources that share evidence-based research and references. Listen to practitioners and experts who are accredited and licensed. Read their articles and blog posts, and utilize trusted resources like examine.com for supplements/trends, and one of our favorites, Healthline.

Always, always, go to the source of the nutrition advice! Who started this trend? Why did they start it? What’s their background? What research do they provide? Do you intuitively trust this person or align with them?

With the growing influencer space, is this person paid to say this? Are they honestly and with integrity sharing with you that they are commissioned to work with that brand? Are they partnering with so many other supplement brands, for example, at the same time? How trustworthy are they?

Play detective and advocate for yourself. Because if you don’t, who will?

4. Is it Something You Can Sustain for the Long-term?

We say this all the time here at Nutrition Stripped, but the feasibility of sustainability and consistency is key for lasting behavior change.

The next question to ask yourself is whether or not you can see yourself practicing this advice for 12-months and beyond. I emphasize the long game so much because it’s so important!

It comes down to figuring out if this trend is worth putting your resources, time, and energy into to support your long-term health. If it’s only focusing on your short-term health, you’re doing yourself a disservice. You’re not thinking about the long game as you deserve.

If it feels restrictive, too challenging, or simply not suitable for your lifestyle, you likely won’t be able to maintain it.

5. Should This Advice be Guided by a Professional?

A lot of the advice out there is meant to educate you on the options that are available, but not all of that advice is meant for you to utilize and apply on your own. Much of the advice out there is intended to be used under the guidance of a licensed professional, like the Mindful Nutrition Method Registered Dietitians and wellness coaches here at Nutrition Stripped.

For example, a FODMAP elimination diet is often used for a short period of time for people with severe digestive issues. However, so many people try this on their own and end up feeling frustrated, lost, and overwhelmed.

The nutrition advice out there dooesn’t teach them how to utilize the diet appropriately, it simply educates them that the option is available. People attempting this diet on their own really don’t know how to conduct it safely, how to make sure it doesn’t feel restrictive, or how to translate the results into a long-term way of eating.

For some people with digestive issues, the FODMAP elimination diet may not be the best approach.

It’s so important to consider whether or not the nutrition advice you’re taking and applying is something that’s manageable on your own. If the advice is more complex and should be done with the support of a professional, be sure to seek one out.

Australian Dietary Guidelines

Do you know what foods are best to put on your plate? Or how much you should eat and how often?

The Australian Dietary Guidelines provide up-to-date advice about the types and recommended number of serves of the different foods that we need to eat for good nutrition and health. These are shown in the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating.

The Guidelines are developed by the National Health and Medical Research Council, working with independent experts in nutrition. They are based on the best available science about the types and amounts of foods and the dietary patterns that are thought to promote health and wellbeing, and reduce your risk of diet-related conditions and chronic disease.

Eat a variety of foods

Healthy eating means eating a wide variety of foods from each of the 5 major food groups, in the amounts recommended.

Eating a variety of foods from the 5 major food groups provides a range of nutrients to the body, promotes good health and can help reduce the risk of disease – as well as keeping your diet interesting with different flavours and textures.

Many of the foods that often feature regularly in modern diets do not form part of the 5 food groups. These foods, sometimes referred to as ‘junk’ foods, ‘discretionary choices’ or ‘occasional foods’ can be enjoyed sometimes, but should not feature regularly in a healthy diet. Fats and oils are high in kilojoules (energy) but necessary for a healthy diet in small amounts.

No matter where you’re starting, it’s easy to make little changes to bring your eating closer in line with the Australian Dietary Guidelines. Just focus on eating foods from the 5 major food groups and reducing your intake of occasional foods.

5 major food groups

The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating groups the foods that should make up our daily diets into 5 major food groups.

The 5 food groups are:

• vegetables and legumes or beans
• fruit
• lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds, legumes or beans
• grain (cereal) foods, mostly wholegrain or high cereal fibre varieties
• milk, yoghurt, cheese or alternatives, mostly reduced fat.

Foods are grouped together because they provide similar amounts of key nutrients. For example, key nutrients of the milk, yoghurt, cheese and alternatives group include calcium and protein, while the fruit group is a good source of vitamins, especially vitamin C.

Eating a varied, well-balanced diet means eating a variety of foods from each of the 5 food groups daily, in the recommended amounts. Because different foods provide different types and amounts of key nutrients, it is important to choose a variety of foods from within each food group. As a bonus, choosing a variety of foods will help to make your meals interesting, so that you don’t get bored with your diet.

Change the way you think about food

There are lots of myths about healthy food. Don’t make food choices based on false beliefs. Some things to try include:

• Don’t think that your diet must be ‘all or nothing’. Eating well doesn’t mean you must worry about eating healthily all the time. A good diet allows for treats occasionally.
• Compare the prices of junk foods against the price of healthier food options to see that ‘healthy’ doesn’t have to mean ‘expensive’.
• Experiment with different foods and recipes. A meal cooked with fresh ingredients is better than a limp burger or soggy chips.
• Try different ‘fast’ options like whole-wheat breakfast cereal, muesli, wholemeal bread, wholegrain muffins, fruit, yoghurt or pasta.
• When eating out, look for kilojoule labelling on menus and check before you choose. A single energy-dense meal may contain most of an adult’s daily kilojoule intake, and drinks can be high in kilojoules too.
• Don’t give up your favourite meals entirely. Try thinking of new ways to create healthy meals – for example, you could make recipes lower in fat by changing the cooking method – grill, stir-fry, bake, boil or microwave, instead of deep frying.
• Reduce the size of your meal or food instead of giving it up entirely. More doesn’t always mean better.
• If you’re worried about missing out on socialising, instead of meeting friends for food, perhaps go for a walk instead. Or you could suggest a food outlet that serves healthier foods, such as wholemeal rolls with vegetable fillings, or sushi.

Get organised with food planning

Planning ahead can make changing your dietary habits a whole lot easier:

• Make a shopping list before you shop and plan what meals you’re going to eat and when.
• Keep a filled fruit bowl at home for fast, low-kilojoule snacks.
• Vary your meals. You may get bored and lose motivation if you don’t try different ingredients and recipes.
• Search the internet to find interesting and easy recipes and cooking tips – have a read of these tasty recipes.
• Cook in bulk to save time – for example, soups, stews, casseroles and bolognese sauce are all easy to cook a lot of, and then freeze in portions for later use.
• Eat breakfast every day so you’re less likely to snack on occasional foods at morning tea. A wholemeal or wholegrain breakfast cereal that is low in sugar, served with low-fat milk, can provide plenty of vitamins, minerals and fibre. Other fast and healthy options include yoghurt or wholemeal toast.