See our last post: Do the Holidays the Nutrient Rich Way – Happy Thanksgiving!

Why do most have to go on a diet in the New Year, eating less food than they want and need? The answer is simple. They eat so many nutrient-poor, calorie-rich foods during the holidays, they overeat excessively, and it’s only natural to want to deal with the most obvious symptom; overweight. It’s what happens when you overload your body with food that doesn’t “serve” your needs other than great taste.

But what if you prepared Nutrient Rich meals which are more appropriate in calories and promote your health? Imagine eating foods, meals and a holiday menu that was great tasting, and you actually felt better after you ate? This can happen for you when what you eat is Nutrient Rich!

Everyone will benefit when you choose to create, buy and serve Nutrient-Rich recipes, rich in quality real food or whole food ingredients. From snacks to baking, there is a Nutrient Rich equivalent for almost every food you are eating right now.

Below are examples of ways to make your holiday meal great tasting and healthier for the entire family.

Instead of eating meals heavy with calorie rich, nutrient poor animal byproducts and ultra refined food stuffs, eat smaller amounts of animal products and discover the dozens, actually unlimited number of ways to eat plant based menus. Plant foods are more Nutrient Rich than animal foods because they are higher on the food chain and don’t contain stuff your body doesn’t need.

Instead of ice cream, eat vice cream – real food ice creams that are made from cashews, water, maple syrup and vanilla, for example.

Rather than seasoning the sweet potatoes with butter or margarine, add orange, pineapple, apples, pecans, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, maple syrup, lemon, lime, to add even more flavor.

Enjoy freshly baked bread by itself – there is no need to spread on the artery clogging butter when whole grain breads and healthy spreads are all around us. You can use raw nut butters, apple butter spreads and others.
If you choose to leave some of your favorite recipes as is, eating smaller portions will likely not happen. So make the majority of your meals with Nutrient Rich Recipes, and you won’t have to get as full. You’ll get fulfilled faster eating Nutrient Rich and hunger shuts off. You also won’t have to deprive yourself of the great tasting foods that are important to you and the holiday spirit.

Don’t worry, during the holidays you will likely overeat and gain a few pounds no matter what you eat because everything centers on food. But eating Nutrient Rich, you’ll be healthier, feel better, and be happier. You can then Lose weight the Nutrient Rich Way™ with simple adjustments, and there is no dieting required.

Make only one commitment his holiday season. Raise your standard and eat better quality food. Eat Rich, Nutrient Rich foods, not poor foods that will wreak havoc on your body… Start the New Year with the confidence and knowing you celebrated well.

Check out the Nutrient Rich Food and Recipe Database!

Best, JAM

One of the leading authorities in PerformanceLifestyle® training and coaching, John Allen Mollenhauer (aka John Allen or JAM) is helping an ever-expanding achiever base optimize their lifestyles for better health and success results.

Based on the PerformanceLifestyle® philosophy, he is the founder of the Lifestyle Coaching Center in Livingston, NJ and  leading lifestyle solutions like www.nutrientrich.com Eat Better, Not Less! He teaches that improving your physical fitness and nutrition, losing weight and managing your energy levels

More and more people are starting to eat a Nutrient Rich diet; nutrient rich foods for better health, peak performance and natural weight loss that are now more accessible.

Even the government has gotten on board with the new healthy trend in eating. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which puts out a new report roughly every 5 years, put out their last report in 2005, which indicated that most Americans consume too many foods that are high in calories but low in nutrients. To address this concern, the new Guidelines reinforced a long-standing and widely accepted cornerstone of nutrition – nutrient density, or enjoying more foods that are naturally rich in nutrients first.

What’s not understood, are the influences underlying these albeit new, dramatically improved and refreshing nutritional guidelines.

Nearly 4 years after the Jan 2005 release of the Dietary Guidelines, and in the early stages of this revolutionary consumer shift from nutrient poor to Nutrient Rich foods, companies are clamoring to label their diets and foods “Nutrient Rich.” Yet, without established standards around nutrient density or what is actually defined a “nutrient rich food”, it is difficult for the average consumer to determine if foods sold and marketed are really Nutrient Rich, let alone healthy. Meats, dairy and animal products are the foods in question.

The Naturally Nutrient Rich Food Coalition funded in large part by the beef board and dairy council, with University of Washington researcher Adam Drewnowski are working to establish a NNR (Naturally Nutrient Rich) score to label their foods as “Nutrient Rich”. NutrientRich.com applauds this effort.

It just so happens though, that meats, dairy and other animal products are the categories of foods that NutrientRich.com has declared nutrient poor – “rich in some nutrients but as whole food, “nutrient poor”.

According to the Food Class System™, animal products are second class foods that are in many ways disease-promoting when eaten in significant quantities, according to widely accepted nutritional research.

In Nutrient Rich Coalition studies, only a limited number of “nutrients” Fiber, vitamins, A, C, E Ca, K, Zn Folate, vitamin D, B 12 are referred to in determining if you are eating “nutrient rich”, even though up to 23 – 26 nutrient were used in their initial studies. John Allen Mollenhauer, founder of www.nutrientrich.com speculates that this is due to the nutrient limitations of dairy and animal products.

No doubt animal products are rich in some nutrients but as a whole food they are missing whole categories or nutrients and are very low in others, plus they include substances which the body does not need.

Two questions on consumers’ minds are:

1.    How do you determine if a food is Nutrient Rich?
2.    How do you lose weight and stay healthy eating Nutrient Rich foods?

One company committed to establishing a sound definition for a Nutrient Rich Food is NutrientRich.com, which established its Food Class System™ influenced greatly by Joel Fuhrman MD who eventually created the ANDI (Aggregate Nutrient Density Index).

Backed also by the findings of the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted (The China Study, BenBella Books, 2005) and a world class lifestyle health and science advisory team; NutrientRich.com was the first to establish the 3 Classes of Foods with a basic Nutrient Density Chart and Nutrient Profile Scores representing 24 vitamins and minerals, plus Flavanoids (where there is substantial research) and subtracting those nutrients known outright to promote disease from an overall ranking.

NutrientRich.com, now a leading promoter of the research, findings and products created by Dr Fuhrman, asserts that you can still eat small amounts of nutrient poor foods and still be eating a Nutrient Rich diet, on a total dietary intake basis, but that the basis of any diet should be predominantly (90% or more) Nutrient Rich foods to eat for health, first and foremost.

To learn more about the Nutrient Rich Diet, Eat for Health training, coaching and other Dr Fuhrman products, sign up for the Nutrient Rich food revolution newsletter, the new trend in eating for health, peak performance and natural weight loss at www.nutrientrich.com

Founded by wellness entrepreneur, lifestyle trainer and coach, John Allen Mollenhauer, NutrientRich.com was developed to help free millions of people stuck in dead-end diet traps; all of which prevent otherwise motivated people from living normally and naturally, at or near their ideal weight, and free of lifestyle diseases, like diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

Nutrient Rich is the most successful way to eat for health, peak performance and natural weight loss.
John Allen is also the founder of the Lifestyle Coaching Center, in Livingston NJ and the creator of the Performance Lifestyle Training and Support System where clients learn the healthiest way to achieve their goals.