If you are looking to solve nourishment issues, give yourself and your loved ones better nutrition, or simply adopt healthier eating habits, then you may have considered consulting a nutritionist. Nutritionists are experts when it comes to food and nutrition, especially in the context of bettering your overall wellness or managing health issues. Speaking with a nutritionist is oftentimes the first step toward building healthier eating habits and highlighting important components in your diet. They may be able to help you relieve symptoms of certain health conditions by managing your diet, adding in foods to assist your body or cutting out foods that aggravate it.

As you can imagine, there are many different types of nutritionists who specialize in various areas of wellness or specific ages and genders. A child nutrition expert, which we will discuss in more detail in a later section, will be able to provide advice catered toward helping parents give their children a diet that promotes growth and development both physically and mentally. A family nutritionist can give similar advice that branches outward to include the entire family. These types of nutritionists often offer a family nutrition program or a food and nutrition service to help families learn more about what it really means to eat healthy and how to go about doing so. Throughout this article, we will explore a few important aspects of family nutrition, such as balancing your diet, nutrition extension programs, pregnancy nutrition, and more. 

What Is A Balanced Diet And Why Is It Important

One of the first questions many people ask when learning more about nutrition is “What is a balanced diet, and why is it important?” A balanced diet can be defined as one that contains healthy amounts of all the essential nutrients that your body needs on a daily basis for fuel and maintenance. Depending on certain circumstances, such as age, pregnancy, or pre-existing health conditions, the actual details of a balanced diet can look slightly different from person to person. However, the overall goal of eating a balanced diet is always the same, and most people can benefit from following general guidelines about consuming the right amount of all the various nutrients your body needs.

The average human needs to fuel their body with foods containing many different micronutrients every day, both vitamins and minerals. These nutrients include vitamins A, C, D, E, K, the B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, zinc, selenium, and more (1). Each micronutrient plays its own unique role in the functioning of the human body, whether by boosting the immune system, helping cell metabolism via the breaking down of foods into glucose, or assisting with the production of mood-regulating hormones like serotonin and dopamine. Different foods may contain a mix of nutrients, varying in their proportions. For example, kale contains high amounts of several nutrients, including vitamin A, B6, and K as well as calcium and magnesium (2). One of the best ways to find out which essential foods and nutrients are missing from your diet is to consult a food and nutrition chart, which lists the nutritional contents of hundreds of different foods.

But, why is all this important? As we mentioned, the various systems throughout your body require a healthy amount of all these nutrients in order to keep you up and running every day. Without proper fuel from a balanced diet, you may experience fatigue, weakness, and low performance while also making yourself more susceptible to infections (3). Not to mention, a poor diet may lead to irritability and increase the risk of depression as well.

With hectic schedules and food quality on the decline in recent years, you may find it harder and harder to find time in the day to create an effective meal plan. In this case, an excellent way to make sure your body always has a healthy amount of the nutrients it needs even on the days where your diet isn’t what you want it to be is to add a multivitamin to your routine. Multivitamins, such as Better Family’s Liquid Daily Multivitamin, dispense these key nutrients in a single convenient dosage. Our diverse blend of nutrients includes the B complex vitamins, vitamins A, D, E, and K, and important minerals like zinc, iodine, chromium, and selenium. This all-in-one liquid solution can be consumed sublingually and is more concentrated than other liquid multivitamins, making it the standout choice among competitors for fast absorption of only the highest quality micronutrients. Both safe and effective, our Liquid Daily Multivitamin is a great choice for any household and can be given to family members of all ages.

Nutrition Education Program

Putting together a balanced diet may seem like a daunting task at first, especially to those who are new to nutrition and the health scene. But, luckily, food and nutrition courses exist to make things easier as you start your unique health journey. A nutrition education program typically involves helping people adopt healthy eating habits that will last by teaching them about proper nutrition and balanced diets through experiences. 

Nutrition education programs exist for all manner of people, from single young adults to seniors to entire families, with many programs even including nutrition for kids classes. Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to take classes online or simply receive recipes, meal plans, and lessons in the mail. Some of the helpful concepts you may learn while enrolled in a nutrition education program include healthy exercise habits, when are the best times to eat, which foods are high in certain nutrients, how much of each nutrient you need, the role micronutrients play in the systems of your body, metabolism, digestion, nutrient absorption, and many more. On the surface, these concepts may sound a bit boring or tedious to learn, but they are essential to promoting wellness both physically and mentally. The involvement of food does provide a unique opportunity to make learning a bit more fun and exciting, especially when teaching kids. Oftentimes, nutrition programs will have cooking classes or new recipes for students to try. If you are adopting a nutrition program for your family, consider involving your kids in meal preparation for a fun family activity as well as a chance to help them learn about nutrition, cooking, and healthy eating habits. 

Pregnancy Nutrition

Eating a well-balanced diet while pregnant is extremely important to both the health of the parent and the health of the child. The nutrients from a parent’s diet are what promote the growth and development of a baby’s body and brain. In fact, diets that are rich in nutrients may also decrease the risk of birth defects and help maintain a healthy birth weight. A proper amount of nutrients may also help pregnant parents by alleviating or lowering the risk of common pregnancy symptoms such as anemia, fatigue, and morning sickness (4).

Below, we have provided a list of three of the most important nutrients to consume during pregnancy, as outlined by the Mayo Clinic (5):

• Vitamin B9 (folate or folic acid): Helps prevent birth defects neural tube defects that affect the brain and spinal cord. 400mcg per day before conception, 600-1,000 mcg per day during pregnancy. Found in citrus fruits, peas, lentils, and green, leafy vegetables. 
• Calcium: Supports healthy functioning of the circulatory, muscular, and nervous systems. 1,000 mg per day. Found in dairy products such as yogurt, cheese, and milk as well as non-dairy products like broccoli, kale, and salmon.
• Vitamin D: Works with calcium for strong bones and teeth in both parent and child. 600 IU per day. Found in fatty fish (salmon), milk, eggs, and orange juice.

Keep in mind that the best pregnancy nutrition tips will come straight from your doctor, who may even provide you with supplements to take as well in order to ensure your diet includes healthy amounts of the typical essential nutrients and those that are particularly important during pregnancy. There are also nutritionists who specialize in helping pregnant individuals meet the unique dietary needs that a pregnancy involves. You may be able to find a pregnancy nutritionist online who can guide you through a prenatal nutritionist meal plan or simply give you some tips for incorporating nutrient-rich foods into your diet more often.

Baby Dietitian

Considering the extreme importance of a healthy diet for developing minds and bodies, child nutritionists come in all sorts of specializations. A baby dietitian can assist with breastfeeding and adjusting the parent’s diet to adhere to the needs of the child. A toddler dietician may be a huge help with handling picky eaters and starting to teach children at a young age about the importance of healthy eating. A weaning dietitian can provide guidance and assistance throughout the sometimes difficult process of starting solids and helping your baby transition toward eating independently. Of course, your physician will provide the best advice about your child’s diet and any adjustments to make, but consulting with a specialized nutritionist can give you the boost that you need during certain more difficult nutritional challenges that you face throughout parenthood.

Whether you need help with starting solids, choosing a healthy baby food that’s right for your child, or getting some nutritional foods into a picky eater, child nutritionists are an excellent resource to make sure your kids are receiving the nutrients they need to grow up strong. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need help formulating a balanced diet for you and your loved ones that will promote wellness for all ages.

Resources

1. “Vitamins and Minerals.” National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, February 2018, https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/vitamins-and-minerals.
2. Gunnars, Kris. “The 11 Most Nutrient-Dense Foods on the Planet.” healthline, 5 November 2021, https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/11-most-nutrient-dense-foods-on-the-planet.
3. Krans, Brain. “Balanced Diet.” healthline, 29 June 2020, https://www.healthline.com/health/balanced-diet.
4. Stickler, Tracy. “Maintaining a Healthy Pregnancy.” healthline, 9 July 2020, https://www.healthline.com/health/pregnancy/healthy-pregnancy.
5. Mayo Clinic Staff. “Pregnancy diet: Focus on these essential nutrients.” Mayo Clinic, 18 February 2022, https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/pregnancy-week-by-week/in-depth/pregnancy-nutrition/art-20045082.