The Practical Nutritionist, LLC

Audrey J Pellegrino, M. Ed, M.HN,CNW®

Nationally board Certified Nutritional Wellness

Holistic Nutritionist/Educator

603-768-3214

practicalnutrition@gmail.com

www.pnutritionist.com

Luck, Destiny or Good Choices?

March is the month of four leaf clovers, leprechauns and pots of gold at the end of the rainbow. These symbols remind of us luck and golden wishes. The question is how lucky are you when it comes to your health? On the occasion that I buy a lottery ticket or a raffle calendar I never seem to win, so I think it best that when it comes to my health, I do not put it in the hands of lady luck.

March is also nutritional awareness month. Nutritional science and research is a booming business, in an otherwise slow economy. There never seems to be a shortage of breaking news or the discovery of enzymes and antioxidants and what they can do for our health. Yet the reality remains that most of us have a difficult time making large changes and maintaining them.

The way to better life-long health is through practical choices that can be life lasting, not temporary for the next cholesterol or blood sugar test.

Since one powerful symbol of March is the shamrock, particularly the four leaf clover, I am going to give you four important points to good health. You have probably heard them before, but as my clients and I realize, to make life long changes, you need to hear it more than once.

Number One: Cut back on sugars and eliminate high fructose corn syrup. The really cute ads on television talking about High fructose corn syrup do not tell you they are treated with both a bacteria, a fungus, something else I cannot identify and separated at high speed. That does not sound natural to me and your body does not recognize it as natural and will store it, not burn it off.

Number Two: Eat lean, clean proteins. That means high quality proteins that are not treated with hormones. If your meat was treated with antibiotics or hormones to get bigger you will end up eating them as well. We store those items in our fat and muscles and so do the animals we eat.

Number Three: Eat breakfast! My mother told me to eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen and dinner like a pauper. That is the way our body’s metabolism best functions, yet we tend to do it in reverse and many of us do not eat breakfast at all. Break-fast means to break the night’s fast and get your metabolism going for the day, so be sure you start with a protein and a good quality carbohydrate.

Number Four: Count your blessings. This had nothing to do with calories in but does have everything to do with your hormones. Hormones are responsible for your mood as well as your metabolism. Be happy and achieving health might just be a little easier. This Saint Patrick’s Day may you be blessed with Irish blessings, but this year may you be blessed with good health!