Make Every Bite Count When Eating Less

With the growth in popularity of GLP-1s, many Americans are consuming less food and fewer calories. But it's important to remember that eating less and eating well are two different things.

A reduced appetite can make it more challenging to consume the protein, fiber and nutrient-rich foods your body needs to stay healthy and function. Jaclyn St. John, registered dietitian and director of nutrition partnerships at Dairy West said people often equate eating healthy to eliminating entire food groups. But it's important to build a balanced diet, and dairy and dairy foods like milk, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, provide high-quality protein and a powerful nutrient package in a relatively small serving.

"Think about 500 calories in a day, if that's all you are going to eat, if you are going to have 500 calories from candy or foods that's not providing you any nutritional value, your body is really missing out on those key nutrients that you need to maintain muscle mass [and promote health and wellness]," St. John said. " Make sure that what you do reach for is providing you some good high-quality nutrition."

Give Your Body What It Needs

St. John stressed it's important to consume a wide variety of foods, from fruits and vegetables, to whole grains for healthy carbohydrates. And she adds your body needs fats as well.

"There's healthy fats like avocado and nuts and dairy foods," said St. John. "Actually, there's a lot of emerging research now showing that the saturated fat in dairy foods is not negatively impacting our body like once thought. So full-fat dairy foods can provide healthy fat as well as make you feel full longer from the that increase satiety."

St. John stressed that although dairy is not a weight-loss treatment, combined with other foods, dairy foods do provide essential nutrition and contribute to a healthy eating pattern.

Visit Dairy West's Website for healthy meal and snack ideas.

If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-9791, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquaremedia.com