Creative Dining Services put “good fat” in the spotlight during National Nutrition Month

FM Top 50 company Creative Dining Services (CDS) used the National Nutrition Month of March to educate individuals on the “good fat, not low fat” dietary approach. Inspired by the Menus of Change initiative from The Culinary Institute of America and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the goal is to encourage customers to incorporate healthier, “good” fats into their diets while reducing their intake of less healthy, saturated fats.

More than 70 CDS account locations across the U.S. participated by featuring entrees incorporating good fats in ingredients like fatty fish such as salmon and mackerel, seeds and nuts, avocados, roasted vegetables coated with, and dressings made with, healthy vegetable oils like olive, canola and soybean.

A new theme was promoted every four days to help educate customers on why and how to incorporate “good fats” into their diets, with dishes the theme of the day being offered.

Among the themes featured over the month were…

• minimizing trans fat and saturated fat in favor of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats found in vegetables, nuts, seeds and fish;

• feed the brain with Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, walnuts and ground flaxseed;

• fighting free radicals with antioxidants found in citrus, berries and cocoa;

• reducing inflammation with fruit, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins;

• adding avocado in place of saturated fats;

• adding nuts, which are packed with protein and healthy, unsaturated fats;

• doing a “protein flip” and adding more plants to the plate;

• trying the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in healthy fats.

Here are some of the dishes that were featured over the course of the month as part of this program…