The one day in the month my husband dreads is the one we need to do our grocery shopping! I still do not know whether he likes doing it or not, but whenever a tentative date is set, it is generally postponed to a further day till the family can no longer take it. Thankfully I have a supportive mother –in-law who forces him to come along. Initially there was grumbling and mumbling, but over a period of time; I’m observing he’s become conscience of what we buy.

A common notion is that men are supposed to do the outdoor chores while the kitchen is left to the woman of the house. My argument is this, if women are meant to work in order to share the financial income and expenses of the family, why can’t men share the kitchen? Ok, this was on a lighter note and for the record this is not a feminist article. This is actually for men.

Women play a multi-tasking role in the family & without any doubt, juggling between work, house and kids is tough. The fact is; even if the ratio of work differs; men also do the same job. Men play an important role in a family as a brother, husband and a dad. Their part in the family is undoubtedly hard as it involves a lot of physical activity. So it’s important for men to stay aware, responsible and healthy. Unfortunately men do not pay attention to their nutritional needs and happily delegate this area to either their mother or wife.

There is another common notion that men have. For them staying healthy is just working out. So they assume having a gym membership qualifies them be living a healthier lifestyle. It’s generally observed that eating healthy isn’t a priority as they believe they can work it out the next morning. In general, while men happily take a backseat, we women tend to be the controllers of the kitchen. And why won’t we let our men in? Because we know our men take their own sweet time to experiment and mess up our super organized kitchen space. Well ladies, to keep our men healthy, the kitchen has to be shared and yes I know it’s a huge sacrifice we’ll just have to make!

For a healthy lifestyle, a combination of diet and exercise is important and any nutritionist would tell you that eating healthy is really necessary if you want your workout regime to give you good results. There are a few things women and men should be aware about their daily requirements. Ladies reading this can use this bit of information to help your man be aware of his dietary needs while the men reading this can do the needful themselves once they are through..

Nutritional needs for men at various stages 

First of all, we have to understand that the nutritional needs for men vary at every point of life. For example, a teenage boy needs more calories since they are more active. But that doesn’t remain constant. Once boys translate to adulthood and happen to start working, their activity level reduces because of the work environment.

Secondly, post marriage their activity level decreases even further and the frequency of eat out increases. Moreover as their age increases and they become fathers, the physical activity increases drastically; but we have to understand as age increases, the stamina level decreases. Therefore at every stage of lie, the nutrition needs differ.

Diet Components for men

Unlike women, men have different diet requirements. Men require more protein and carbohydrate based diets to maintain a high energy level compared to women.  A healthy diet would be a combination of these. Along with this their requirement for calcium, minerals and vitamins is also more. There are some other nutrients that men should be aware about like zinc, folate and antioxidants. Diet components like folate and antioxidants are important especially if you are planning a family since it favors fertility related hormones in both men and women. The following chart would give you an idea of daily calorie requirements for men at various stages.

Healthy diets follow the food guide "pyramid," which recommends:

• 6-11 servings of complex carbohydrates
• 2-3 servings each of fruits and vegetables
• 1-2 servings each of dairy products
• proteins like meat, tofu, or beans
• sparing use of added fats and sugars

It’s understood that requirements for men in diet differ. It is also a known fact that a healthy lifestyle requires some changes (read: sacrifices) for better results. So what can men do to be more proactive in taking care of themselves? 

 Final Word

• Well for starters, men have to be active in the kitchen department. They don’t have to cook all the time, but they might have to take an active role in making decisions about what is to be prepared. So instead of just sending the wife or mother to the supermarket, it would be good idea for men to accompany them and look into the nutritional value of what is being purchased.
• A 2011 Journal of the American Dietetic Association study found that kids are likely to mirror their father's intake of many snack foods. So another plus is that if you make a switch to a healthy diet, the chances of your children following you increases.
• Also instead of encouraging kids to just be in front of the TV, it’s best if the mother and father involve them in kitchen activities like assembling salads the laying the table. This way you all would get to spend more time together.
• Come up with innovative DIY projects for meals during outings and picnics instead of a take away or instead of eating at hotels. You could make sandwiches, salads and assemble them at the picnic spot.

There are so many ways to stay healthy. It just takes a self- conscience effort to accomplish health goals for both men and women.

Source: