Good Nutrient Sources for Plant-Based Eaters

Plant-based eaters need to be vigilant about incorporating nutrients of concern for underconsumption into their diets, including: iodine, zinc, calcium, protein, iron, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamins A, B12, and D. Milk, eggs, poultry, meat, and seafood are naturally rich in many of these nutrients—so if you’re excluding any of these from your diet, use this chart as a guide to ensure that your plant-based eating habits are healthy and nutritionally complete. Read more about the motivations, benefits, and habits...

Easy Nutritional Guidance: Understanding the SAGE Spotlight Program®

Eating well is a lifelong skill that’s difficult to learn in a world filled with persuasive food packaging, marketing and advertising, and fad diets. Enter SAGE’s Spotlight Program, a nutritional program designed to guide students of all ages in making healthy choices. The SAGE philosophy is that no foods are bad—everything has a place when you practice the principles of variety, balance, and moderation. We’re updating our established Spotlight program according to the most recent USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans...

The Prevalence of Food Allergies at SAGE

Rise & Dine

At SAGE, we believe that healthy meals are necessary for strong academic and athletic performance. And although we’ve got you covered at lunchtime, breakfast is the way to prepare for a successful day ahead, arguably making it the most important meal of the day. Your Brain on Breakfast Besides supplying your body with immediate energy, a good breakfast: boosts your immune system, lowers blood pressure and cholesterol levels, reduces the risk of diabetes and heart disease, reduces the risk of anxiety...

Food to Fuel Student Athletes

About 30% of teen athletes skip breakfast and 25% skip lunch. That’s a big mistake. Student athletes have different nutritional needs, especially on training and game days. To perform their best, they need the right fuel. There are three key components to the ideal “performance plate”: grains or starches, proteins, and fruits and vegetables. Grains/Starches: Energy Glucose, the building block of carbohydrates, is the main source of energy for our muscles and our central nervous system.  First, our bodies...

Help Your Kids Put Their Best Selves Forward!

The theme of this year’s National Nutrition Month® is “Put Your Best Fork Forward”—focusing on how the little choices and changes you make every day add up in big ways for your health! In keeping with that theme, we’re sharing our Registered Dietitians’ top tips on small changes kids can make for a big impact on their whole-person health. Eat Ask yourself: “Where did it grow/grow up?” A field? A farm? In the water? If you can’t tell, enjoy...

National Eating Disorders Awareness Week

Next week is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. This year's theme is It’s Time to Talk About It; to shine the spotlight on eating disorders and put life-saving resources into the hands of those in need. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, over 30 million Americans will struggle with an eating disorder—and many begin that struggle young. Children as young as seven have been diagnosed with eating disorders. While genetic predisposition is a factor in the development of eating disorders...

The Problem with Processed Food

“Clean eating,” or opting for natural and unprocessed foods in lieu of factory-packed and processed alternatives, has been a hot topic for years. At SAGE, we prefer to emphasize scratch cooking—using whole, fresh, local ingredients as often as your time and budget allow. When you read about all of the benefits of using real foods, and just how delicious they really are, you'll understand why it's our SAGE Standard, and perhaps make it yours too. When we talk about...