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NourishKC NourishKC

NourishKC

NourishKC

  • About
    • Staff and Board
  • Programs
    • Kansas City Community Kitchen
    • Culinary Training Program
    • Food Rescue Program
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer
    • Donate
    • Events
  • Contact
    • Kitchen Hours & Location
    • Community Resources
    • COVID-19 Updates
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January Highlight: Variety for Health

We just finished the season of giving and feasting and joy. So what comes next? Why, it’s the season of illness and snot, of course! When you browse social media or listen to people around the water cooler, you’ll hear all sort of interesting ideas, recommendations, and home remedies to help you feel better fast. Some are legit, some aren’t. Some might work for one person while being completely useless for others. However, through this time of congestion and hacking try to remember that if there was a magical cure for the January crud, the secret would be out by now. There may be no magic pill, but there are things you can do when the sniffles hit:

Eating a wide variety of foods during the onset and duration of cold or flu is a good idea. There are a variety of nutrients, as well as physiological processes, involved in immunity, so making sure you are getting a good variety will help. Restricting your diet during times of acute illness is a bad idea; aside from needing variety, overall calorie and protein needs will increase with many symptoms of illness, including fever and labored breathing.

Scientific evidence is very mixed about how well vitamins and supplements actually work for illness prevention. Vitamin C and Zinc, for instance, are commonly found nutrients in supplements for cold prevention. The idea that Vitamin C helps colds stems from its role in immunity and the fact that it is 100% a sure thing that if you are deficient in Vitamin C you will get better faster if you have some, thus bringing yourself back up to baseline. However, getting more and more of a good thing doesn’t always equal great. Our bodies have a cap for water soluble vitamins such as Vitamin C, and when we reach that cap excess nutrients are flushed out of the system, offering no benefit. Some studies show that high doses of Zinc may help reduction in length of a cold by 24 hours if taken right at the initial onset. Other studies show no benefit at all.

This is just another example of how balance and moderation help to maintain a healthy body. Bottom line: eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, high-quality proteins, and grains for good overall nutrient quality. Wash your hands often and keep surfaces clean and disinfected. And, of course, make sure to get plenty of rest and clear fluids.

Lastly, the best advice I can give is to advise you NOT to give amateur medical advice. You may have read all about it on WebMD or even had a personal experience you want to share, but your unprofessional health advise may be harmful to others. For instance, you may think that eating an orange at the onset of a cold helps you feel better faster, but for someone with kidney failure who hasn’t yet started dialysis, oranges could cause a serious reaction leading to hospitalization. Eating grapefruit may seem like another good way to get that vitamin C, but that fruit can decrease the effectiveness of certain thyroid medications. The best medical advice to give is NONE. Do what is appropriate for you and let others do the same.

And if after a few days you or your loved one are still feeling under the weather, see a trained medical professional who can tell you what is going on inside and get you back on the road to recovery and good health.

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Happy Earth Day! At NourishKC we do our part by co Happy Earth Day! At NourishKC we do our part by composting all food scraps. What are you doing to cut down your waste?
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If you couldn't tell, NourishKC is SO thankful for If you couldn't tell, NourishKC is SO thankful for our volunteers! Most of what we do is ALL because of the helping hands and hearts of volunteers like Chloe!
#volunteerappreciationweek
Last week we celebrated students from NourishKCs C Last week we celebrated students from NourishKCs Culinary Training Program graduating! 
The students made a delicious three-course meal in honor of completing the program! Congrats 🥳
We love when volunteers make parts of the meal all We love when volunteers make parts of the meal all by themselves! Thank you to volunteers like Ms. Cindy who come weekly to help impact your community! 
#volunteerappreciationweek
Thanks to the hard work of our volunteers, Nourish Thanks to the hard work of our volunteers, NourishKC makes and distributes hundreds of hot, fresh lunches every weekday! Help is guaranteed when groups like the UMKC Pre-Dental society volunteer together! 
Sign up for YOUR volunteer shift today at https://nourishkc.org/volunteer
Today's #volunteerappreciation highlight features Today's #volunteerappreciation highlight features Lone Jack High School students who recently came to the Kansas City Community Kitchen to help prep and serve to-go meals to guests! One important volunteer task is counting how many meals are being served.
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