February is here, and we are ready to shake OFF winter and shake UP sugar for National Nutrition Month coming up in March. All of our locations are busy prepping recipes and promotions to create major momentum in reducing added sugar in our menuing.
Creative Dining has adapted Menus of Change, an initiative from the Culinary Institute of America and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public health, focusing on healthy, delicious, sustainable food choices. Menus of Change has many defining principles, three of which we are highlighting in March:
- Reduce portions, emphasizing calorie quality over quantity
- Reduce added sugar
- Drink healthy
Data from Harvard shows that the average American consumes 22 teaspoons of added sugar daily. This is amounts to an extra 350 calories per day, and 127,750 extra calories per year. It’s well-known that increased sugar intake increases our risk for higher blood pressure, inflammation, diabetes, and fatty liver disease. Even worse, these are all linked to an increased risk for heart attack and stroke. Diabetes, heart disease and stroke are among the top 10 killers of Americans each year.
The Creative Dining nutrition team has educated & equipped leaders across all of our dining locations ways to help combat these statistics with our March initiative “Sugar Shake-Up,” which includes right-sizing dessert portions, mixing in healthier ingredients when baking (such as nuts and dried fruits), and encouraging more water consumption (and fewer sugary beverages) by offering fruit-infused waters and flavored waters.
These are just a few ways that Creative dining continues to up-level the health and sustainability of our offerings without, of course, ever sacrificing flavor. Follow our Sugar Shake-Up on social media by checking out #cdsbecreative and #sugarshakeup or email nutrition@creativdining.com for more information!
