The Six Essential Nutrients
Essential Nutrients are necessary to sustain life and remain healthy. These nutrients come from a variety of food groups and can be added to a meal during cooking or to a product through fortification.
| Carbohydrates | Fats |
Found In:
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Found In:
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| Minerals | Proteins |
Found In:
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Found In:
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| Vitamins | Water |
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Found In:
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To have a healthy diet, you need to eat balanced meals that contain all six main nutrients. The plate below illustrates a balanced diet. It is important to remember that hydration is as essential as every other nutrient listed as it keeps the systems in your body running, which prevents countless other sicknesses and diseases.
Nutrition For Children
To support parents, babycef.am platform was created where parents can find reliable information about child care, nutrition, and upbringing. This should help each parent ensure the early childhood development of the children. Information such as nutrition during pregnancy, breastfeeding, as well as recipes for young children, can be found on the website.
The videos linked below are great for understanding the value of healthy nutrition in children and how to prepare food appropriate for their age:
Food recipes for 6-8 month old children
Food recipes for 9-12 month old children
Find more recipes for young children here.
Starting a Backyard Garden
Accessing some of these essential nutrients can be difficult, especially if living in a rural area. If it is difficult to find food or you’re unable to purchase nutritious foods, then there is always the option to grow your own. Starting your own garden in your backyard can be quick and easy. There are many ways to start a garden, but one of the most common ways is to build a raised garden bed. Raised beds can help limit weeds and pests that might otherwise compromise the produce. Alternatives to raised beds include planting directly into the plowed ground, using pots, or mound gardening. Planting directly into the ground is simplest as it requires the least preparation and materials. Using pots works well in urban areas and close quarters, and produce like herbs and lettuce can thrive in these conditions. Mound gardens are created by building mounds of compostable materials like rotting wood, and layering dirt on top. This method requires more work but allows for more gardening space which increases yield.
Raised Beds
To create a raised bed with wood you will need posts, planks, a saw, nails, hammer, and soil.
- Clear the area where you want to raise the bed by digging it up or covering with a tarp for several weeks to clear away vegetation
- Cut planks to desired dimensions
- Drive posts into four corners of the bed at desired lengths
- Attach planks to posts forming the four walls
- Fill with soil
Alternatively, you can create the walls from brick or concrete blocks, whichever materials are easiest to find.
Examples
Starting a Community Garden
Following the same steps, you could even create a community garden. This would involve working with your neighbors or even a community center to build a large-scale garden, that everyone can work on, plant, and use. If large enough, these community gardens can be used to turn a profit, which can help to raise money for your home and for your community.
Wild Edible Plants
There are plants all over Armenia that are edible, whether native or not. For information about Armenian edibles, you can learn about the 1000 Leaf Project, which is a collaboration between three Armenian environmental groups. You can also report any wild edibles you use or have found yourself on this site to inform others!
Resources:
Outlines current and past efforts to support Armenian Agriculture
Creating a community garden is much more cost-effective and helpful than an individual garden. If implemented amongst a large or small group of people, the ability for people to share tools, and resources cut down on costs tremendously. Plus this also ensures that families with limited time or those who take care of older adults benefit more from the community working together
TeensLive Healthy Eating Guide
This guide illustrates different ways to eat healthier and outlines some of the information described above, such as the essential nutrients you need have, and what foods to get them from.
TeensLive Food Poisoning Guide
This guide details all the different ways that people contract food poisoning and how to avoid them
References:
A Look At Some Cheap Backyard Gardening Ideas. (2019, May 14). Retrieved from https://www.ashlyngardening.com/a-look-at-some-cheap-backyard-gardening-ideas/
Assadourian, E. (2020, April 19). It’s Spring Outside. It’s Scary Out There. It’s Time to Yardfarm. Retrieved from http://gaianism.org/spring-scary-yardfarm/
Barhum, L. (2020, January 3). 6 Inflammation-Fighting Vitamins. Retrieved from https://www.verywellhealth.com/the-best-vitamin-for-fighting-inflammation-4176859
“Blog: 5 Steps to Creating a Community Garden.” Shape Your Future, 23 Mar. 2020, shapeyourfutureok.com/5-steps-creating-community-garden/.
C, J. (2020, April 19). Herb Gardens Simple Tips. Retrieved from http://acomfycottagelife.com/gardeningherbs/
Erickson, A. (n.d.). 17 Urban Gardening Tips That Are Perfect For Small Spaces. Retrieved April 23, 2020, from https://www.readersdigest.ca/home-garden/gardening/10-urban-gardening-tips/
Essentielle Fettsäuren: So wichtig sind sie für den Körper. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.gloryfeel.de/blogs/lexikon/essentielle-fettsauren
Health, B. M. (2017, April 17). Magnesium Deficiency Causes and Symptoms, Natural Magnesium Supplement. Retrieved from https://www.belmarrahealth.com/symptoms-and-causes-of-magnesium-deficiency/
MaxLiving Health Expert MaxLiving, et al. “Essential Nutrients 101: Your Guide to Nutrition, What You Need, and the Science of Why.” MaxLiving, 1 Mar. 2019, maxliving.com/healthy-articles/essential-nutrients-101-your-guide-nutrition-what-you-need-and-the-science-of-why.
“MyPlate Partner Title Become a MyPlate Partner!” MyPlate, www.choosemyplate.gov/.
Not All In-Home Drinking Water Filters Completely Remove Toxic PFAS. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://nicholas.duke.edu/news/not-all-home-drinking-water-filters-completely-remove-toxic-pfas
Oblas, D., & Schaeffer, Z. (2018, July 11). How to Build a Simple Raised Bed. Retrieved April 23, 2020, from https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/gardening/g20706096/how-to-build-a-simple-raised-bed/
Protein. (2020, May 1). Retrieved from https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/protein/
Seigel, A., Danielle, N., & Elliott, F. A. (2017, September 8). The Art of Making a Hugelkultur Garden Bed for Years of Fertility. Retrieved from https://www.onegreenplanet.org/lifestyle/how-to-make-a-hugelkultur-garden-bed/
Simple Balcony garden design decor ideas. (2016, March 28). Retrieved from http://chobedesign.com/simple-balcony-garden-design-decor-ideas/
“The Many Benefits of Hugelkultur.” Permaculture Magazine, 17 Oct. 2013, www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/many-benefits-hugelkultur.
Types of Carbohydrates. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.diabetes.org/nutrition/understanding-carbs/types-carbohydrates
“Typical Diet in Armenia Is No Longer Healthy; Nutrition Specialist Points to Good and Bad Influences from Other Cultures.” Hetq.am, 21 Mar. 2019, hetq.am/en/article/102022.