Let's All Eat Right Day – February 25, 2025

History of Let's All Eat Right Day

As important to human beings as air and water, and in some ways one might argue that food tops the list because it can affect us in ways beyond just the physical. Food can change your mood, speak to your very soul, and make a difference in your self-perception. Thus on some level, we all want to eat right and are open to making changes that may bring us to good health. So it is only fitting that there be a day to celebrate eating right, which will hopefully put us all on a lifelong path of developing a healthier relationship with our food.

Nutrition itself has been around as long as humans have, however, it was not until 400 B.C. that the Greek physician Hippocrates observed the impact food has on physical health, especially when it came to the prevention and cure of illness. The ancient world foods used for medicinal properties (such as using garlic to cure stomach ailments) and the birth of nutritional science itself is fairly recent. It began with the discovery of vitamins, which were synthesized and their effects on disease studied. The name ‘vitamin’ is derived from the words ‘vital’ and ‘amine,’ coined by Dr. Casimir Funk in 1912. The onset of World War I caused widespread fear of food shortages and forced nutritional scientists to focus on food as a preventative for diseases. Hence the first Recommended Dietary Allowances (R.D.A.s) were issued around this time. Since then, nutritional science has been a burgeoning field of study, and none of us are untouched by it.

While it is not known when exactly Let’s All Eat Right Day was initially celebrated, we know it falls on the birthday of Adelle Davis as a way of honoring her work and the legacy she left. With bestselling books like “Let’s Eat Right to Keep Fit” (1954) and “Let’s Cook it Right” (1947), Davis’ research and publications had a huge impact on the everyday American consumer; even with her fair share of controversy. Her focus was on championing whole foods over processed foods with additives and advocating for the importance of taking nutritional supplements to help prevent disease and potentially other social ills. The early 1900s was a time when vitamins were introduced, and the concept of their value as dietary supplements was on the rise. It created a new niche in the market for health products backed by science. In October 1994 Congress approved the Dietary and Supplement Health and Education Act to regulate standards of nutritional supplements.