What’s food got to do with feet? Plenty! At Paul Klein, DPM, FACFAS, we believe that good foot health is an integral part of overall health and your overall health definitely impacts your feet. March is National Nutrition Month and a good chance to explore ways to make over your family’s eating habits.

Why Menu Choices Matter

A nutritious diet has a starring role in a healthy lifestyle. For your feet specifically, losing excess pounds and/or maintaining an appropriate weight has several benefits:

  • Reduces the risk and severity of many foot disorders including plantar fasciitis, metatarsalgia, and arthritis
  • Lowers the chances of developing diseases that can cause damage to the feet (and, of course, the rest of your body) such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease
  • Can decrease an inflammatory response in the body, which aids in the relief of many foot conditions
  • Helps avoid gout attacks, which can be triggered by specific foods such as red meat, shellfish, rich sauces, brandy, beer, and organ meats

Top Tips from Nutritionists and Real Families

Remaking your menus doesn’t have to be difficult, boring, or filled with foods that your family will not like. Make changes slowly and get the whole family invested in the process. Below are some simple suggestions that have worked for other families:

  • Get a jump start on your daily vegetable and fruit quota by having them for breakfast in a smoothie. Start with milk (any variety: regular, soy, or almond) and add spinach, kale or another green along with bananas or berries, nuts, and a little honey for sweetness.
  • Show your children where vegetables come from. Visit area farms or better yet, start your own garden. It’s more enticing to be part of the growing process and then eat what you’ve grown rather than just have a strange vegetable show up on your plate!
  • Explore different cuisines. Many types of ethnic foods use interesting spices rather than sugars or fats to up the flavor quotient. Try out Thai, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and other types of restaurants and then look up recipes to try to create your own dishes at home.
  • Save time and money and prevent waste by storing leftover fruits and vegetables in freezer bags and then adding to soups, stews, and smoothies.

Talk to our podiatrist, Dr. Paul G. Klein, at your next appointment in our Wayne, New Jersey office to learn other ways that diet can affect foot disorders you may be suffering with. Contact us at: (973) 595-1555.