Healthy eating is a very important factor to implement into your everyday life. It’s so easy to binge on chocolates, crisps and sweets, (sounds amazing – I know!) especially when you’re at your desk with a tight deadline looming over you or opting for a quick snack selection to get you through the day to beat the lunchtime slum. Binging on unhealthy foods for a long period of time can have a real knock on effect to your health, which is why it’s important to incorporate nutrition and diet into your meals.
When it comes to diet and nutrition the two, link very closely. People often have a misconception about nutritious food and cut out the ones that end up being the most important for your dietary needs. Everything should be eaten in moderation, but always remember not to limit yourself.
What is the difference between diet and nutrition?
- Diet – is the sum of food consumed by a person. This can be measured by having a specific intake of foods to help with health or weight reasons.
- Nutrition – interacts with the relation of maintenance for growth, health and reproduction. For example, eating eggs can help make your bones stronger, and eating salmon can help speed up recovery for muscle pain.
The importance of having a healthy and balanced lifestyle – with the help of a good diet and nutrition – can help us feel our best. There is no single food out there that enables us to have the best nutrients we need to have that balance. For this reason, our diet should have a combination of foods which help boost our immune function and its needs – a great example of this is the ‘Eatwell guide’.
The ‘Eatwell Guide’ is a great starting point if you wish to bring healthy and balanced foods into a company’s kitchen space. The image, displayed above, simply breaks down how many vegetables, carbohydrates, proteins and dairy foods you should incorporate into your day to day diet. Furthermore, the image also breaks down, what to look out for when buying food from the supermarket with its nutritional label chart displaying the red, amber and green colours, foods to eat less often, and the recommended amount of water we should intake a day.
Here, at drp, we offer the team a range of weekly food options at a subsidised rate. This is crucial to us as it encourages peers to step away from their desks and indulge in a healthy meal at a reasonable price. On a week to week basis we change the menu and offer nutritional foods such as salads, vegetables and fruits which all help to balance a heathy lifestyle and implement energy into the team – as without food how do we survive?
If you work within hospitality and you’re looking for a new creative way to implement a healthy kitchen, or if you are looking to live a healthier lifestyle, here are some top tips:
- Create a 4-week menu and implement a range of nutritional foods that you can get your 5 a day from.
- Pick a day of the week where you have a set meal – for example ‘Fish Fridays’.
- Have a range of salads and fruit options that complement the main meal.
- Get a water dispenser and put it in your dining area or office – drinking water has plenty of benefits plus it keeps you hydrated.
- Ask for feedback – ask your peers what they liked about your menu and what they didn’t. This feedback is very important as this can help when creating the next menu and you can look at the ways in which you can improve your menu.
- Explore new foods that you haven’t tried before. There is no harm in experimenting and trying new things. Who knows you may end up liking it.
Sources: Eatwell guide – https://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/the-eatwell-guide.aspx
Author: Deborah Leddington – Catering Manager at drp
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