Nutrition Nuggets 13 - Gratitude

Today, we are highlighting gratitude. Practicing gratitude is integral to good health and self care. Our brains are wired to look for problems for survival. Watching news heightens our sense of fear and negativity. "If it bleeds, it leads" is a trick of the trade for journalists. We don't generally hear about the normal, day to day, good things that are happening in society. Yet, there's evidence to suggest that the pattern of negative thinking can really be detrimental to our brain health and mood. Research indicates that negativity may be toxic to our brain health over time and can lead to increasing risk for developing dementia.

There's the 'gap' and the 'gain'. We tend to focus on 'the gap' and what needs to be fixed, whereas, it takes effort and intention to reflect back on 'the gains' and all of the positive things that are happening. Building intentional gratitude in to daily practice helps to shift our mindset to a more positive outlook, which will ultimately affect our overall health.

Ways to incorporate daily practice of gratitude may include - with family members around the dinner table, ask about three good things that happened in the day, or what each member is grateful for, will help to reframe the conversation to the positive. Plus, daily, weekly or monthly journaling can help to reflect on gains and life perspective. Stop to smell the roses is a way to live in the moment and appreciate life. Meditation is another mindful practice to help center your thoughts and bring awareness to your body's internal signals and cues. It's easy to get stuck in the negative and look for problems all the time. It takes effort to stay positive with all of the messages that we are bombarded with over the day from many channels, but, with mindful intentions, we can take positive steps to improve our mindset.

Today, we are reflecting on the podcast and the recent interviews that we have conducted to support our listeners. We are grateful for all of the nuggets and wealth of information that our guests have offered our listeners.

Katie Dodd, RD on vitamin K and blood thinners

Meredith Cushing, RD on ways to reduce household and industrial food waste

Karrie Heneman, PhD on the⁠ importance of family meals⁠ and child development

Jacob Hanson offers his real life perspective on ⁠shift work⁠ as a firefighter

Kim Tirapelle, RD on helping people increase movement and improve lifestyle activity after bariatric surgery

Lisha Knicely, RD on supporting people with ⁠low thyroid function⁠ and helping them navigate the healthcare system

Scott Fickerson, MS on ⁠plant-based eating and vegan diets⁠

Melanie Betz, RD, discusses⁠ kidney stones⁠

Lisa Duncan shares her lived experience with body dysmorphia and her own gratitude on life, in our discussion on diet culture in society

Sandra Thies, RD on intuitive eating and reframing the way we discuss weight and health in our medical care profession (upcoming episode)

Prajakta Apte, RD gives us a comprehensive view on gut health (upcoming episode)

Margot Fedoruk, author - discusses her quirky and entertaining memoir/recipe book "Cooking Tips for Desperate Fishwives"

We give a huge shout out to all of our amazing guests for helping our listeners gain so much valuable information and help with resources.

Resources:

Guided Meditation with Sandra

Negative thinking Can Harm Your Brain and Increase Your Dementia Risk - University of London study

James Clear - Atomic Habits

Silva Method

Life is Beautiful - movie

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