Nutrition series: what to explore and prioritize in your 20s
Nutrition series: what to explore and prioritize in your 20s
and some things I wish I had done
I thought I would start a new series of sorts, focusing on nutrition and wellness-related behaviors, and some science, specific to certain age ranges. First up is the magical decade of the 20s, of which I both miss dearly and certainly do not wish to ever repeat again. I’ve been working with a lot of clients and patients in this age range of late, which is unique because they are still growing. Both on the bone front (most people don’t reach peak bone mass until ages 25-30!), and when it comes to the brain, which also doesn’t finish developing until the mid-to-late 20s. What does this mean? Well, if you’re in your 20s, you still have time to optimize bone health and reduce risk for stress fractures in the near future, as well as osteoporosis in the long term. You also still have time to examine certain behaviors and decisions around food and rewire your brain a bit (note: this can of course still be done later in life, but is often easier without the need for decades of unlearning).
First, examine your behaviors around food
A lot of our experiences or behaviors that start in our 20s related to food and body image can deeply impact health and well-being for decades to come. Before focusing on specific foods to eat, now is the time to address your relationship with food and body. I have seen countless women in their later years whose disordered eating and body image struggles have impacted every aspect of their lives for literal decades. This includes meaningful social connections, lasting romantic partnerships, fulfilling careers, mental and emotional health, bone health and fertility, and it doesn’t have to be that way! Doing the hard work early on, with a good registered dietitian and/or a therapist, can free up the rest of your life for living, without constant thoughts of food, dieting and restriction.
Second, take good care of those bones
In order to continue to build strong bones in your 20s, nutrition is of the utmost importance. I’ll get into certain macro and micronutrients that play key roles, but even more important than those is to eat enough food. This is so much easier said than done, whether you’re an athlete, living in diet culture or getting used to the busy lifestyle of a young professional. It’s very easy to fall short of consuming key nutrients if you’re not eating enough in general. If this is taken to more of an extreme and undereating has an impact on hormones, this can be detrimental to bone health because we women need adequate estrogen for bone growth and development. As far as specific nutrient categories, these guys are important to consume daily:
Calcium - most abundant in dairy products like yogurt, cheese, milk, and also soy products, beans, dark leafy greens, nuts and seeds
Vitamin D - not in a ton of foods (I provide a list here), so I typically recommend having levels checked regularly and supplementing when needed
Protein - an important building block for bones, protein should be consumed regularly throughout the day (meals and snacks!). Think foods like fish, poultry, soy products, dairy, beans, nuts and seeds, whole grains, meat, eggs
Next, why not learn to cook?
If you’re not the greatest in the kitchen, now is the time to learn basic cooking skills. This is important for a bunch of reasons - cooking at home can give you more input into what goes into your food, increase the variety of foods you eat, save you a ton of money, and be quite therapeutic. Learning some cooking basics, either by taking classes, doing some YouTube investigating, cookbook reading, or enlisting an experienced friend to show you the ropes can diversify the diet and help develop useful and lasting skills in the kitchen. I learned most of my basic cooking skills from one of my roommates during my second year of college (also my best friend to this day, shout out to Meghan!), and built on those when I realized cooking was something I actually enjoyed.
And also, try some new things
Your 20s is also the time to try new foods and cuisines, which does get more challenging as we age and become more set in our ways. Case in point: last year my husband took me to a sushi restaurant for omakase, and I nearly turned green when a raw quail egg piece was placed in front of us. 20 years ago Kelly would have been much more adventurous. You can start out smaller, though, by trying various vegetables like Brussels sprouts, collard greens, radishes, whole grains like quinoa or farro, beans, fish, etc., if they are new to you. Different cooking methods, like roasting, and using a fat like olive oil, can help make veggies and proteins more palatable and delicious.
What I wish I had done
My 20s (2002-2012) were definitely influenced by diet culture, which wasn’t really known as a thing back then, but mercifully pre-Instagram until the very end. To put things bluntly yet a bit vague, I wish I had known certain behaviors I had around food were not necessarily healthy. There weren’t so many dietitians like I am now back then, no “anti-diet”, intuitive eating, etc., that I was aware of (and I was in school to become an RD for 5 of those years!). Since I didn’t know I needed help, I certainly didn’t seek it out. Things are so different now and there are tons resources for those struggling with disordered eating and body image. Use them, friends!
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