Eating for Beauty (Cadette badge)

The Eating for Beauty badge is part of the “It's Your World - Change It!” badge set introduced in 2011. For the badges released in 2011, scouts must complete all of the activities listed to earn the badge.

Nutrition isn't just about maintaining a healthy weight: Eating well helps you inside and out. Choosing the right foods can help you sleep better, stress less, and get smooth skin, shiny hair, and strong nails. In this badge, find out how to eat to keep your skin glowing, your mind focused, and your energy flowing!

Know how good nutrition helps your body stay healthy
Your body is a complex, amazing machine. Are you giving it the right kind of fuel? Set habits now that will keep your body at its peak performance all your life. First, take a look at the good and great, the bad and really bad in your current eating habits.

ChemMatters: The Chemistry of Acne video about how and why acne forms.

Eat by Color!
Use the color groups on the government-designed MyPlate food guidance system to track how many servings of each color you're eating. Try this for two weeks and see if you can make the second week healthier than the first.

For More FUN: Create a colors quiz and give it to five friends to help them choose a healthy variety of foods, too.

Have a food-log challenge with friends
Make an exact and honest list of everything (everything!) you eat for a week. Swap your list with a friend and analyze each other's choices. Decide on two changes you can make that will result in healthier eating habits, and put them in action for the next week.

Make your own plate
Trace the USDA's MyPlate diagram. Then head to your fridge and pantry, and draw what's in each section onto your circle. The foods from your house might look different from the government's plate, but its guidelines can still help if you know where your foods fit in. Share your list with Cadette friends and work together to write a week's worth of healthy meals.

Find out how what you eat affects your skin
Lean protein, complex carbohydrates, whole grains, fruits, and veggies make your skin, hair and nails look better. People used to think chocolate and greasy food cause acne, but research indicates they have little effect on pimple production. However, drinking water is beneficial for skin health, glow, and for reducing acne. Get your skin glowing in this step.

Get enough water. Scientists used to think that everyone needed to drink eight glasses of water a day, but most researchers now think that number is too high. Find out the best amount of water for your age and activity level, and come up with three clever ways to get enough water every day. You might program your computer or phone to make a gurgling noise for an alarm, or place a glass pitcher with beautiful lemon slices on your desk. Practice for a week - and see if you can get others to join in!

Make a Top 10 list of antioxidant-rich foods
Come up with a way to work at least four into your regular diet.

Do a grocery-store scavenger hunt
Find foods that contain selenium, essential fatty acids, healthy oils, and/or vitamin A - all things that are thought to improve skin health. Choose three of these food to work into your meal routine.

Explore how your diet affects your stress level
'''Caffeine and sugar affect mood swings, fatigue, and your ability to concentrate. When your levels of cortisol (also known as the stress hormone) go up, so do your cravings for fat, sugar, and salt - what a cycle! Take a look into the science behind eating and stress.'''

Choices - Do One:

'''* Food makeovers. '''Find three food you eat that are high in sugar, fat, or salt, and make a healthier choice, either by substituting another food altogether or by creating new recipes that use healthier ingredients. Food magazines and websites are full of fun tricks for this.


 * For More FUN: Make up cards with your most successful recipes and give them to friends and family - or post them on a family, Girl Scout, or personal blog.

OR

''* Sugar detective. Just because the label doesn't say "sugar" doesn't mean the product isn't full of it. Look up all the names that sugar masquerades under. Then take a trip to the store and find as many items with sugar in disguise as possible.''


 * For More FUN: Make up a silly song or phrase that will help you cease and desist when you crave sugar.

OR

'''* Chemical detective. '''Go online or to a library to research food additives and chemicals that are believed to contribute to anxiety and stress. See how many you can find in the foods you and your family eat. Talk to your family about limiting these foods and finding substitutes for them, and why it's important to your family's health.


 * Try these Relaxation Tips: Stress Awareness Day: 10 ideas for a stress-free night.

Investigate how what you eat affects your sleep
'''Lack of sleep affects your ability to focus, your stress level, your weight...the list goes on and on. And research says that teens and tweens need more sleep than adults do and are more affected by lack of sleep than adults are. Check out how what you eat - and when you eat - can help you get better sleep.'''

Choices - Do One:

'''* Make an illustrated chart of snooze/lose foods. '''These are foods that help you sleep and those that keep you awake. Post it near your bed and keep a journal for a week to see what works for you and what doesn't.


 * For More FUN: Track your dreams for the week, too. Are they related to what you've been eating, or how much you sleep?

OR

'* Take the two-week test. 'For two weeks, track the time you eat dinner, what and how much you eat at dinner and before bed, and how easy it is to get to sleep. Keep other variables the same - hit the sack at the same time, and exercise the same amount during the day. Do you notice that caffeine and high-sugar snacks before bed tweak your system?

OR

'''* REM it up. '''Look into the importance of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Many specialists stress the importance of uniterrupted sleep, which means not drinking after a certain time so you won't have to get up to use the bathroom. Avoid drinking three hours before you go to bed for four nights in a row. Did you sleep better?

Look at how your diet affects your energy
'''Keeping energy up is all about keeping blood sugar steady - not up or down. For some people, eating whole foods and enough fiber and protein at each meal does the trick. For others, eating five or six small meals throughout the day works best.'''

Choices - Do One:

'''* Take a poll of friends and family. '''Ask them five questions about when they feel most energetic and how it seems to relate to what and when they've eaten. Now ask yourself the same questions. What conclusions or advice can you draw?

OR

'''* Do an exercise/energy experiment. '''There are times during the day - especially when you exercise - when getting food into your body fast is key. Make a list of 20 healthy food you can make and eat quickly. Star those that are portable, and keep one or two in your backpack for a week. See which ones make you feel best before, during, and after your workouts.

OR

'''* Create a chart or blog post. '''Explain the ways the fiber and vitamins in five different fruits can help you stay energized and why. ''For More FUN: Go apple or berry picking and make your chart about what you picked. ''

Additional Resources

 * Stay Beautiful: Ugly Truth In Beauty Magazine. What fashion magazine try to sell women and tell women about themselves. Would be a good activity to take some fashion magazines and do the same experiment as a meeting activity.