Celiac disease affects an estimated 1 in 141 Americans, but many of those who have it don’t know it. May is Celiac Awareness Month—how much do you know about this autoimmune disorder?
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Scientifically speaking, celiac disease is when a reaction to gliadin and other similar proteins causes an inflammatory reaction in the small bowel that damages the villi in the small intestine, which interferes with nutrient absorption.
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Biology was always my least favorite subject (well, after chemistry, that is), so in layman’s terms, celiac disease is a genetically based autoimmune disease trigged by the ingestion of gluten, which is found in wheat, barley, and rye.
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Celiac Awareness Month 2013’s theme is “Fuel the Family.” The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness wants to focus on getting the families of those with celiac tested for the disease and educating the general public.
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To help with the education piece, I have some fast facts for you. Let’s get learning!
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• An estimated 83% of people with celiac disease are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.
• Symptoms include diarrhea, weight loss, and anemia.
• Left untreated, celiac disease can increase the risk of osteoporosis, thyroid disease, and infertility.
• Celiac disease is hereditary—it runs in families.
• The only treatment is a strict, lifelong gluten-free diet.
• Some naturally gluten-free foods are fruits, veggies, nuts, beans, fish, and meat.
• Gluten-free grains include quinoa, millet, amaranth, and rice.
• Just because a food item’s packaging proclaims that it’s gluten free doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good for you!
• There’s a correlation between type 1 diabetes and celiac disease; 1 in 10 individuals with type 1 diabetes also have celiac disease.
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Katherine Plumhoff joined the Spry Wellness Blog as a contributor in 2013. She is currently pursuing her undergraduate degree in English and Communication Studies at the University of Michigan and hopes to work in publishing after graduation.
For May’s Food of the Month, we get to explore the cuisine of an entire section of the world! May is National Mediterranean Diet Month, and I know what you’re thinking: olive oil and red wine. What else differentiates this type of food, though, and just how good for you is it?
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The Mediterranean diet includes the traditional foods of southern Italy, Greece, and Spain. It’s rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, olive oil, and legumes. Although it is high in fat, it’s generally monounsatured fat (here’s looking at you, olive oil), which is said to reduce the risk of heart disease while having other anti-inflammatory benefits. The Mediterranean diet is also high in fiber, which has tons of health benefits we’ve already talked about that include maintaining steadier blood sugar levels.
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Research on the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet has turned up some fascinating results. It turns out that the traditional Mediterranean diet may reduce the risk of cancer and the incidences of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.
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Also, a study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) concluded that healthy people who followed a Mediterranean diet had a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Another recent study suggested that eating a healthy Mediterranean diet may improve heart health and reduces the risk of heart attacks.
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So now that you know how beneficial following a Mediterranean diet is, you might be wondering how to incorporate it into your lifestyle. After working as an au pair and living in a tiny pueblo in Spain for three months last summer, I picked up on a few Mediterranean eating habits that are easy to incorporate into your life. Check them out.
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• Try olive oil instead of butter with bread. If you’re dipping lightly, you’ll use less, and extra virgin olive oil is full of beneficial monounsaturated fat. And, it’s delicious, too!
• Replace high-sugar and high-fat desserts with a piece of fruit. The family I worked for in Spain would eat fresh peaches and melon after dinner, and it’s the perfect end to a meal.
• Add fish. Pick something high in protein and omega-3s, such as mackerel or tuna, and grill or bake it. The 4-year-old Spanish toddler I watched absolutely loved fish kebabs—making healthy food fun will get even the pickiest of eaters to try something new!
• Eat your veggies. Make sure every meal offers something green. A salad with in-season vegetables is a good place to start. Maybe you can even start your own huerta, or home garden, to ensure regular access to healthy, fresh veggies.
• Don’t forget beans. Legumes are a great source of protein and are popular in Mediterranean food. Try your hand at cocido madrileño, a Spanish stew with a chickpea base (one of my favorite Spanish dishes, hands down!), or serve up some pasta e fagioli, or pasta and beans, a traditional Italian meatless dish.
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Katherine Plumhoff joined the Spry Wellness Blog as a contributor in 2013. She is currently pursuing her undergraduate degree in English and Communication Studies at the University of Michigan and hopes to work in publishing after graduation.
Choosing the healthiest foods for yourself and your family can be, quite frankly, exhausting. The Internet is full of countless articles featuring opinions of doctors, dietitians, nutritionists, health gurus, and average Janes who have figured out what works for them. To alleviate some of the confusion, we’ve asked four of our trusted sources for their wisdom on how to help make your quest for health a little easier.
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Dietitian Julie Feldman, author of Grocery Makeover, says that fiber is the way to go when you’re looking for a good snack for the family that won’t leave tummies rumbling thirty minutes later.
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“When deciding which foods to shop for and provide for your family, choosing mostly fiber-full carbohydrates is the way to go,” explains Feldman. “Fiber extends many benefits to our overall health and quality of life. Fiber is unique in that it is the only nutrient that we eat that we don’t break down and absorb. This creates a slow and steady source of energy for our bodies that does not cause a large production of insulin. When we eat this way throughout the day, we have energy, lack cravings, and are more likely to be physically active.”
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Many moms would agree with Dr. Elizabeth Jackson and author of An Ageless Woman’s Guide to Heart Health. Dr. Jackson urges women to remember the impact that choosing healthy habits has on not only themselves, but also on their families. She encourages women to be aware of the powerful example they have an opportunity to present.
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Dr. Jackson reminds women that “when you’re healthy, your family will benefit in many ways. The healthy habits you adopt are typically mimicked by your children. In many ways, women are the ultimate healthcare providers. We are generally responsible for grocery shopping, meal preparation, first aid, scheduling check-ups, and, of course, providing commonsense advice. As such, we have a wonderful opportunity to instill healthy habits in our children that will last a lifetime. Even if you’re not planning on having a family, you can still serve as a role model for friends, relatives, and coworkers.”
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For many people, the relationship with food extends beyond nourishment to trying to satisfy emotions as well as our stomachs with food. Ginger Vieira, a certified cognitive coach, personal trainer, and author of Emotional Eating with Diabetes, offered us some expert advice on developing a healthier relationship with food.
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“You are human. We all need and want friendship, love, and happiness,” explains Vieira.
“When you don’t have one of these things in your life, food can become a quick and easy … well, not a substitute, but a distraction. Macaroni and cheese cannot replace love, and it never will. It is simply a way to ignore your feelings, needs, wants, and even insecurities.
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“Instead of trying to hide the fact that you feel loneliness and crave something like love, could you try to acknowledge it? Could you actually pause in the moment when you would usually reach for food and say out loud, ‘What I really want is love, not food.’
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“If you are using food to cover, hide, or distract yourself from emotions over a certain part of your life, those emotions or that situation will never evolve. They will continue to be hidden, covered with calories.”
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So how do you get it all under control? Susan Weiner is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator who is the coauthor of the upcoming book The Complete Diabetes Organizer. She has some great tips for managing the chaos and making sure food doesn’t take you by surprise.
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Weiner suggests, “A weekly meal schedule can help you make healthy choices that may help you control your blood sugar levels. You’ll also be more likely to manage your weight. Best of all, you won’t come home and feel anxious and worry about what’s for dinner.
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• Take inventory of your food
Make sure that you have all of the basic foods and ingredients you might need to plan healthy and well balanced meals for the week ahead.
• Plan your meals for the week
Check out some healthy cookbooks from your local library or look online for ideas on simple and healthy recipes which are within your calorie, carbohydrate and fat budget.
• Write down your meals for the week ahead
Try to keep a simple written plan of your meals for the week ahead. You are more likely to eat nutritious and portioned meals if you generally stay within your pre-planned menu guidelines.”
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I hope these tips will help you overcome some confusion and frustration and forge a path to improved health and well-being. From here, you can evolve and adapt your eating habits to your lifestyle in the healthiest way possible.
This week we received an update on Sophie Lash, the vibrant teen with autism who has overcome obesity by embracing the challenge while having fun. Sophie’s incredible transformation resulted in victories on multiple fronts—she went from preferring a sedentary lifestyle to loving being active and outdoors, giving up her snacking habits as a “food ninja” to pursuing healthy eating habits, culminating in a total weight loss of 70 pounds—a third of her body weight.
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On April 25, 2013, Sophie hopes to win an award from the Michigan Fitness Foundation, The Governor’s Fitness Award for Conquering Obesity, in recognition of the commitment she has made to become active and fit. If you’re interested in learning more about Sophie’s amazing journey, here’s a wonderful video about her and her family:
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In order to win the Governor’s Fitness Award, Sophie needs your votes! You can cast a vote and cheer her on here.
Julie Feldman, MPH, RDN, is a dietician who owns a private practice based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, where she provides counseling and consulting services to individuals, families, teams, and corporations. Her debut book, Grocery Makeover, hit shelves earlier this month. To give you an idea about why we’re so excited, here’s a short excerpt from the book on the value of understanding micronutrients and what they can do for you.
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“The easiest way to ensure that you and your family are receiving adequate vitamin intake on a regular basis is to focus on color, servings, and variety. Fruits and vegetables retain certain colors based on the types of vitamins and minerals they contain. Typically, the deeper the color, the more nutrient dense a fruit or vegetable may be. By choosing a variety of colors of fruits and vegetables throughout the day and week, you will help to ensure that the required vitamins and minerals are being received. This can be a fun way for kids to think about being healthy as well. Encourage them to “eat the rainbow” when it comes to produce.
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“It is recommended that most adults consume roughly two cups of fruit and two and a half cups of vegetables each day. Since most of us eat about 5 times during the day (3 meals and 2 snacks), each time we eat there should be a serving of fruit and/or a vegetable as part of the meal to ensure that we are meeting our micronutrient needs.
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“Minerals, including calcium, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, chlorine, sulfur, iron, zinc, and magnesium, are essential to the human body and function as both structural components and electrolytes within our body. Our bones would not grow and our muscles would not contract without them. Minerals are found throughout our food supply and there is a great deal of nutritional propaganda focused on their consumption. Get enough calcium, decrease your sodium intake, seek out potassium-containing foods, supplement zinc—the list goes on and on. Choosing a diet primarily comprised of whole foods, limiting canned and processed items, is likely to ensure safe mineral consumption.
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“Calcium is one of the key minerals that is often lacking in the American diet. For example, teenagers’ calcium needs are roughly 1,300 mg per day. That equates to about 5 servings of a calcium-containing food a day. In my 14 years of practice, I have yet to meet a teen that ingests that much healthy dairy each day. This is an example of a great opportunity to supplement the diet with a calcium supplement. One 500 mg calcium supplement added to the diet each day means that this teen now only needs 3 servings of a calcium-containing food to meet his or her needs. Specific nutrient needs, including calcium, will be discussed when we identify great sources for these key nutrients throughout the book.”
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To learn more about the value of these key nutrients and much, much more, pick up a copy of Grocery Makeover today!
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Julie Feldman, MPH, RDN, works in her own private practice based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, where she provides counseling and consulting services to individuals, families, teams, and corporations. She thoroughly enjoys spreading the message of sound nutrition, appearing frequently on television and in print as a nutrition expert.
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Jessica Snyder joined the Spry Wellness Blog as a contributor in 2012. She is currently working to obtain an undergraduate degree in English and Communications at the University of Michigan.
This piece was originally run on December 28, 2012. We are rerunning it as a part of our focus on National Autism Month. If their story is of interest to you, Skip is currently collecting endorsement letters for Sophie’s Governor’s Fitness Awards nomination. If you’d like to show your support for their cause, please email us at info@sprypub.com. Since this article first published, Sophie has also been selected as a finalist for the Michigan People’s Choice Award! We’ll keep you updated as we receive links for the voting.
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by Skip DeWall
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She is an athlete.
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My stepdaughter Sophie Lash is autistic. She does not talk. She has coordination and motor skill deficiencies. She lives in a world that at times is utter chaos, a world where her brain is in overdrive, bombarded with images and sounds often paralyzing her and making communication with those outside her world almost impossible—sometimes it is excruciating in the extreme. She covers her ears to slow the onslaught. She closes her eyes to control the overwhelming stream of visual images overloading her capacity to process them. She seeks comfort in familiarity. She longs for her computer, her chair, her room, her DVDs, and her grandmother Dorothy who spoils her mercilessly. She needs her doting mother, who raised her as a single parent, and her adoring sister Hannah at her side to see to her every need. Hannah, who from the age of four has been Sophie’s co-mother, is selfless in her dedication to her little sister. She has lowered-the-boom on me many times for pushing too hard, for not understanding the un-understandable. It would be impossible for Sophie to be an athlete without Mary and Hannah—her biggest fans—but we are a team. We are the A-Team. The Autism Team!
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A year ago, Mary, Hannah, and I would never have believed Sophie could be nominated for a physical fitness, heath and diet award, let alone—and more importantly—that it would actually mean something to Sophie. But now we are believers. She is a hero. She is proud of herself! She is willing to put in the work, though very difficult for her, to be fit and healthy.
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And then there is the “Sophie posse,” women who have been engaged in her life and education for years and important men like her uncle John Hellner. She has been known to drive them to tears of late, just at the sight of her. She is a totally different kid than the one they knew before she became an athlete. And she is an athlete. When she started hiking on the trails at the Geology Center here in Chelsea, when she became more comfortable taking long walks with us, when she tolerated running laps on the Chelsea High School track, when she tried to hit tennis balls, when she trained for the Run for the Rolls, she blew us away. At one time we found it almost impossible to pry her from the car, and now she loves to be outside.
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In addition to embracing more physical activity, Sophie has taken an active interest in her diet. She, completely on her own and to our surprise, discovered cooking videos on YouTube recently. She really loves to help me cook! A complete change of diet has resulted in her losing sixty pounds. Pizza is no longer a staple food; it’s a treat. Pizza is actually part of the reason Sophie is trying to talk more. It was outside the Jet’s Pizza store in Chelsea about a year ago where she and I sat waiting for her to answer the question, “Sophie, do you want to get pizza now?” She finally uttered something that sounded like the word yes and we went in to pick up dinner. She has made constant progress in her vocabulary since then.
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Through Sophie we understand what the word dedication means. The Run for the Rolls was Sophie’s first race. It will not be her last. Next year we will invite others with autism to run with us, to join our team, and maybe she will introduce others with autism to the joy of fitness and good health.
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Update April 3, 2013: Sophie has been selected as a finalist in the competition. The final stage will include a voting portion. We’ll keep you updated, and post the link when it becomes available.
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Sophie Catherine Lash is 14 and resides in Chelsea, Michigan, and attends Chelsea High School where she is blessed by a very wonderful special education staff.
This piece was originally run on December 27, 2012. We are rerunning it as a part of our focus on National Autism Month. If their story is of interest to you, Skip is currently collecting endorsement letters for Sophie’s Governor’s Fitness Awards nomination. If you’d like to show your support for their cause, please email us at info@sprypub.com. Since this article first published, Sophie has also been selected as a finalist for the Michigan People’s Choice Award! We’ll keep you updated as we receive links for the voting.
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At Spry Publishing, we love to feature individuals who have achieved great things in the midst of great challenges, especially when those people are able to inspire others to do the same.
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Skip DeWall is a good friend of Spry, a member of our local community, and a colleague of ours in the publishing industry. Skip’s stepdaughter Sophie Lash is an incredible young woman with autism who is making the type of achievements that we most admire. With the support of her family, friends, and community, Sophie is expanding her personal horizons through diet and exercise, making changes that have impacted much more than just her physical fitness.
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Sophie is being nominated for the Governor’s Fitness Awards here in Michigan, so we thought this would be the perfect time to share their fantastic story with you. I had a chance to interview Skip this month and asked him about his family, Sophie’s recent accomplishments, and the Fitness Awards for which she’s been nominated. Later this week, we will publish Skip’s nomination letter to the Michigan Fitness Award organization, explaining Sophie’s story in more detail.
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Enjoy!
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JS: Can you tell us a little bit about your family?
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SD: I married Sophie’s mother, Mary, in February of 2011. I have another stepdaughter, Hannah, age 17. My children, Jen and Dan, are 25 and 27 respectively, and off at school. Mary and I met at ProQuest in Ann Arbor, where we both work in sales. Mary actually interviewed me for the job. We live in Chelsea. Hannah and Sophie both go to Chelsea High School. Sophie is in the special education program.
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JS: What first prompted Sophie to become more active?
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SD: Sophie’s autism makes it hard for her to do anything that is unfamiliar to her. She would almost never choose to leave the house if it were up to her. As a family, we decided that Sophie’s condition was not going to hinder our everyday activities and that we would work together to help her to accept challenges. We started with simple things—trips to the store, short walks, attending social functions in town, and going out to visit people.
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At first it was extremely hard for Sophie, but we took small steps. A short visit. A quick walk. Sometimes we had to make a deal with Sophie—just get out of the car and look at the festival, and if you don’t want to stay we will leave. And we did leave if she chose that path. But then the walks got longer and the socialization more comfortable, and soon she was doing everything with us, and usually without the fear and apprehension that had paralyzed her in the past. Because she was so far behind her peers in this regard, we kept increasing our expectations little by little. We wanted to be certain that we had reachable goals, and that Sophie actually understood that she could accomplish these new experiences. Her confidence grew as each new goal was attained. I began running a few steps with her on our regular hikes. Then a few more, then faster … and she responded. So, I took her to the track and had her run/walk laps with me. In her autistic mind, the idea that we would run was not maddening, but the thought that she should run in a circle, only to end up exhausted where she started drove her crazy. But again, small steps. We usually rewarded her in some way after a workout—a treat, pizza night, or a visit to Grandma’s. Soon enough, she trained for and ran the Run for the Rolls (one mile fun run) in the summer of 2012.
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JS: What kind of impact has the activity and cooking together had on your family?
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SD: Sophie’s growth has profoundly affected us. Virtually everything we did, at one time, was entered into with the realization that Sophie could explode in a tantrum and force us to abandon our plans. She was prone to meltdowns that were terrifying to the uninitiated. She would hit, scratch, and bite. She would scream on the floor and refuse to budge. We very frequently missed out on things because the fear of Sophie exploding was just too great.
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The confidence that she now has, that we all have, is remarkable and allows us to have what I would call a totally normal family life. Sophie has been constantly pushed to achieve. Her growth has resulted in self-confidence and good behavior. She has, day-by-day, what I would call a normal life and has grown so dramatically as a person that many who know her simply cannot believe it.
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Sophie has taken an interest in cooking too, which is rewarding to me because I am a chef wanna-be. My son Dan is a chef. Sophie, all on her own, discovered cooking videos on YouTube and likes to help me make her supper, granola bars, and mostly, pizza. A year ago this was not the case.
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JS: I understand she has been nominated for an award. Can you tell us more about that?
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SD: The Governor’s Fitness Awards are given in several categories each year. When Cindy Trivelene, race director for The Run for the Rolls, submitted pictures of Sophie to the foundation that sponsors the awards and her race, Sophie caught some attention. They wanted to know more about her. They recommended Cindy submit an application for her nomination. We have nominated Sophie for awards in several categories including: Inspiring Story, Conquering Obesity, and Overcoming Adversity.
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Jessica Snyder joined the Spry Wellness Blog as a contributor in 2012. She is currently working to obtain an undergraduate degree in English and Communications at the University of Michigan.
I’ve really enjoyed getting to know Julie over the past year that we’ve been working together. In addition to her new book with Spry, she’s also a regular contributor here on the blog, adding her valuable information and perspective to articles on a wide variety of health-related topics. In fact, it’s difficult to find any topic that pertains to eating that Julie can’t talk about with expertise—nutritional planning, obesity, vegetarian and vegan diets, eating disorders, nutrition for infants and mothers, food allergies, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, you name it.
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Julie’s approach to educating people about diet and nutrition centers around one primary goal: helping people develop a healthy and peaceful relationship with food and their bodies. Whether old or young, overweight or underweight, in relatively good health or ailing, that goal remains the same. To help people achieve it, Julie teaches them to focus on controlling insulin production, developing a game plan, and becoming a mindful eater. By understanding these three basic concepts, people can make changes in their daily habits that can lead to vastly improved general health and well-being.
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Now, it’s one thing to realize that you should do something, but quite another to actually know how to do it. I have the good fortune of being my household’s “chief grocery shopper,” as Julie calls it. I do the majority of the cooking for our family, so naturally it makes sense for me to do the majority of the shopping. (I also have a certain fondness of strolling through grocery stores late at night with my headphones on.) I do my best to make sure that I bring home a healthy assortment of food from the store. But in truth, many of my decisions are based on my own hunches or guesswork, media hype, and product advertising, prices/sales/promotions, or if you’re dealing with two small children like I am, the ever-present question of “what can I actually get my kids to eat?”
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Grocery Makeover addresses and resolves each of those dilemmas and many, many more. Julie applies her basic eating philosophy to the everyday grocery shopping trip, while she walks you through the grocery store, aisle-by-aisle, providing helpful tips on every type of product that you will find there. Individual chapters cover one specific type of food (“Perfect Produce,” “Bountiful Breads,” “Dairy Delight,” “Eggstravaganza,” etc.), and within each chapter Julie shares ways to maximize that food’s health opportunities and minimize confusion as you shop.
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The organization of the information within the chapters is exceptional, in my opinion. For each type of food that’s covered in the book, there are repeating subsections that help to familiarize you with the vital information about that product.
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Key Food Facts Here’s all the data that you need to make informed decisions. Understanding nutritional information, labels, packaging, and options. Pitfalls Where do shoppers usually go wrong? Common misconceptions and misinformation. Tricks that manufacturers play to sway your purchases. Everyday Eats These foods may be included every day in a healthy lifestyle. Occasional Eats If this is more of an occasional indulgence, what’s the healthiest way to indulge? Insider Tips Loads of innovative ideas and smart strategies that come straight from Julie’s grocery cart and table. Makeover Moments Now it’s time to make a change for the better! Learn how to give your old habits a makeover.
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The book also includes a pull-out shopping guide, pocket-sized and perfect for taking along to the store, providing a wealth of quick-reference food information that you can read on the go.
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One of my favorite things about Grocery Makeover—and about Julie Feldman in general, I might add—is the takeaway feeling that “I really can do this. I can be more mindful of my food decisions and improve my health.” I think that the subtitle, Small Changes for Big Results, does a great job of explaining the philosophy behind this book. If you consider each of the individual choices that you make at the grocery store and then make small adjustments to each of those decisions, the net result can be a dramatic, life-changing improvement to your health.
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Reading Grocery Makeover will not only improve your Food IQ (which it most certainly will), but it will also make you more aware of your health habits, more confident about your decision-making, and more content with the results. Give yourself a Grocery Makeover today!
Taking care of one’s self should be one of those things that just happen. In theory, making choices that aim to keep you in good health should be second nature to most adults. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be a healthier, higher-functioning contributor to society? However, it seems we need more and more reminders of how important it is to treasure and care for our health as time goes on. Whether we are just generally busier or more stressed out, we lean on the media and other external factors to tell us what we should do. In that vein, March is designated as National Nutrition Month—a time for the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics to remind you that good nutrition is important for your health. While the 30 days of March own this official designation, the messages it delivers are truly essential for the other 335 days of the year as well.
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This year’s National Nutrition Month slogan is “Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day.” It encourages us to create a balanced diet that promotes good health within each of our own lifestyle, cultural, and ethnic parameters. Not surprisingly, each one of us views the concept of good nutrition through a different lens. Yet no matter how you think about your diet, there are three main areas we can touch on to bring good health into focus.
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Creating energy balance or matching calories in with calories out is a cornerstone concept of maintaining a healthy weight. While I am not a huge proponent of counting each calorie, I do think the average consumer lacks a good understanding of how many calories they consume at a given meal or throughout an average day. Most adults require a caloric intake somewhere between 1,500 and 2,500 calories per day. Visit here to find out where your needs fall. Energy balance is not only about what you eat, but also the amount of calories you burn through regular exercise. It is almost impossible to maintain a healthy weight without a good combination of exercise and balanced eating.
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Getting enough of the good stuff is mandatory when it comes to eating well. There are key nutrients that both reduce our risk of a number of chronic diseases as well as promote our well-being. These include dietary fiber, calcium, omega-3 fats, and lean protein. A plethora of educational handouts that outline specific requirements can be found here. I encourage my clients to seek out functional foods in their everyday lives. For example: brown rice provides fiber, broccoli provides vitamins and minerals, and a piece of salmon provides protein and omega-3 fats. It is hard to find the function in something like a cookie, making it a choice that I would reserve for special occasions.
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Lastly, we cannot forget how important it is to limit foods and ingredients that hinder our journey toward better health. Cutting back on added saturated fats (high-fat meat, high-fat dairy) and trans fats (baked goods, margarine) as well as sodium can improve our overall health and reduce our waistlines.
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This March, find a moment to take a nutrition inventory. Consider keeping a diet log for a week to increase your awareness of the choices you are making. A number of free apps can be added to your smart phone or tablet as well to help you become more accountable. Fitness Pal or MyNetDiary are two of my favorites. Each small change that you are able to make will bring you one step closer to better health, and better health feels great!
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Julie Feldman, MPH, RD, works in her own private practice based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, where she provides counseling and consulting services to individuals, families, teams, and corporations. She thoroughly enjoys spreading the message of sound nutrition, appearing frequently on television and in print as a nutrition expert.
Most months we feature a specific food in our Food of the Month posts, but this time we’re going to look at a component of food that is an essential part of your diet—fiber. It’s National Fiber Month, and even though we’ve raved about the benefits and necessity of getting enough fiber in your diet before, it never hurts to be reminded.
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So, why fiber? Well, for one thing, it keeps you full longer. Fiber comes from plant-based foods, and our bodies can’t digest it quickly. It slows down your digestion and helps you to continue feeling full for much longer than foods without it. If you’re trying to cut back caloric intake or just keep away a rumbling stomach, loading up on fiber is the way to go.
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Fiber also helps to slow down the rate at which sugar is absorbed by your body from your food. This keeps blood glucose from rising too quickly. Why is this good, you ask? Because what goes up must come down, and the drop in blood sugar that comes after a sugar spike can make you feel hungry again soon after you eat.
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Also, fiber cleanses your intestines. Insoluble fiber helps you to have healthy bowel movements and reduces constipation. Fiber can also catch cholesterol, bacteria, and other toxic buildup in your intestines, which has been shown to reduce your risk for colon cancer.
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From where should you get this fiber? Many whole grain, bran, and rolled oat cereals have a lot of fiber. Refer to the Nutrition Facts on the packaging to make sure the product has at least 5 grams of fiber per serving. Brown rice has the hull on it, which is made of fiber (unfortunately white rice is hull-less). Beans, legumes, fruits, and vegetables are also full of fiber. Whole grain breads can also be a good source, but check the label to see how much fiber they contain—not all whole grain breads have lots of fiber.
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Unfortunately, most Americans don’t get nearly the recommended amount of fiber each day. It is recommended that a person eats between 25 and 35 grams of fiber per day but, on average, people intake about half of that amount. Since most fiber comes from fruits, vegetables, and beans (of which most Americans already eat too few), this isn’t too surprising.
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Keep your eyes open for opportunities to load up your diet with fiber! It’ll keep you from munching at work and can help keep you healthier in the long run.
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Jessica Snyder joined the Spry Wellness Blog as a contributor in 2012. She is currently working to obtain an undergraduate degree in English and Communications at the University of Michigan.
Where do you go for reliable dietary information? The television? A web site? Your friend whose sister’s neighbor is a dietician? Julie Feldman, MPH, RD, is the author of Grocery Makeover: Small Changes for Big Results (available April 2, 2013), a comprehensive guide to navigating your grocery store in a health-conscious way.
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Julie recently joined me for an interview to tell me a little about why she decided to write a book, why she thinks good nutrition is essential, and how she transformed herself into a healthy young woman who hasn’t stopped sharing her passion for diet and nutrition since. The following is an excerpt from a longer interview that we posted a few months ago. Read the entire interview here.
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JS: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
JF: I am a 37-year-old wife and mother of 3 kids who are 10, 8, and 4. I have been married to my husband, Brad, the love of my life, for nearly 15 years. I’ve been a dietitian for the past 13 years. I came to a career in dietetics because I was an overweight kid, and I come from a family who deals with weight issues. Around the age of 13, I decided that I was uncomfortable in my body and that it was time to do something. I began a pretty regular exercise and healthy eating program that I have sustained to this point. I attended the University of Michigan for both undergraduate and graduate school, obtaining my Masters in Public Health in Human Nutrition. I was able to complete my dietetic residency program through the U of M Health System, and I began my career in dietetics at Providence Hospital in Southfield, Michigan.
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I have served in several leadership roles during my professional life and have had the opportunity to use my credentials to do a lot of really cool things. I frequently provide nutrition information on local news; speak nationally on behalf of Mead Johnson Nutritionals; and provide media support for Coca-Cola, both in print and on television. But, my favorite aspect of my job is seeing clients day-to-day and watching their worlds change as they gain control of their health. I feel really lucky each and every day that this is what I get to do for a living.
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JS: Why did you feel you had to share the information in your book?
JF: I feel so fortunate to be able to share information that makes people’s lives better. I am always amazed at how little people really know about food, and what they do know tends to be half factual and half media-driven propaganda. The truth is that there are not a lot of reliable places to receive good nutrition information that is realistic and applicable. It is unfortunate that visits with a dietitian are not possible for more families. Not every family is able to pay the $80–$150 per session that it costs to meet with a professional dietitian. I hope this book can provide some very useful information in a way that can fit into anyone’s budget.
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JS: How important is it that a person is educated about what they eat?
JF: If you ask me, it is the most important thing we can learn and understand. There is not a day that goes by that a new study is not published on the relationship between food and wellness. Similarly, the rising costs of healthcare are nearly 100 percent correlated with a rise in diseases that are directly affected by our diet, including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Education is power, and with education we are able to make better choices.
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JS: What are some good first steps for a person to begin integrating super foods into their diet?
JF: I think it is important to get the basics down before venturing into advanced nutrition because, let’s be honest, drinking pomegranate juice does not offset a cheeseburger and fries. Super foods are nutrient-dense foods that offer tremendous health benefits in the form of high levels of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients with medicinal qualities. I always recommend that clients choose a couple of new foods at a time and begin eating them based on their own health goals. I also really like the concept of replacing somewhat unhealthy foods with super foods, thus doing double duty with each bite! Replace high-fat beef with salmon; substitute spinach for a less-colorful green; drink green tea in place of a cup of coffee each day. Here’s a quick list of super foods: beans, blueberries, broccoli, oats, oranges, pumpkin, salmon, soy, spinach, tea (green or black), tomatoes, turkey, walnuts, and yogurt.
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JS: What tips or advice would you share with your readers?
JF: It is important to remember that you must be realistic with your health goals and nutrition standards. Is it realistic to say you are never going to eat another food that contains high-fructose corn syrup? Probably not. But you certainly could say that you are not going to buy those things for your own home. Too often people latch on to various trends in nutrition that are extreme and not sustainable for any extended period of time. I always tell my clients that they shouldn’t start doing something if they do not think they can maintain it forever.
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JS: What do you wish people would ask you about more often?
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JF: I would love for them to ask me about long-term healthy living rather than the latest trend or diet supplement. I want to spread the message that long-term healthy weight maintenance is a real possibility for all of us, no matter if you are busy working mom of 4, a 10-year-old girl, a high-powered executive, or a retired secretary. We each deserve to live our healthiest life, and the good news is that with a little education, we all can.
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Julie Feldman’s Grocery Makeover: Small Changes for Big Results will be available everywhere books are sold on April 2, 2013. Pre-order your copy today!
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Julie Feldman, MPH, RD, works in her own private practice based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, where she provides counseling and consulting services to individuals, families, teams, and corporations. She thoroughly enjoys spreading the message of sound nutrition, appearing frequently on television and in print as a nutrition expert.
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Jessica Snyder joined the Spry Wellness Blog as a contributor in 2012. She is currently working to obtain an undergraduate degree in English and Communications at the University of Michigan.
Julie Feldman, MPH, RD, is a dietician who provides nutrition counseling and consulting services to individuals, families, teams, and corporations. Her debut book, Grocery Makeover: Small Changes for Big Results, is releasing on April 2, and, to get you excited, we’d like to share a little preview from the book that gives some information on Julie’s philosophy on eating and how she helps her clients have the healthiest relationship with food possible.
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“You, as the chief grocery shopper in your household, make decisions regarding the quality and quantity of products and, thus, impact how your family lives. With nearly 40,000 traditional grocery stores throughout the United States, each one housing nearly 60,000 different items, learning how to grocery shop in a healthy way is a necessity if your goal is to nourish and raise a healthy family. This process, which seems overwhelming, truly boils down to having basic nutrition knowledge. I’m not referring to the latest diet trend or celebrity weight loss scheme, but rather to basic biology and chemistry, which is a bit less cool but a lot more practical. It also requires reading and understanding product labels that include ingredient lists and federally allowed health claims that appear on the foods we purchase.
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“As a registered dietitian, I have the awesome job of helping people live their healthiest lives. The people who seek me out are contemplating making necessary changes to their diet in hopes of feeling well, looking good, and becoming healthier versions of themselves. We all recognize that change, albeit often necessary, is one of the most difficult processes to endure. The change required to achieve good health is a significant transformation for many people. My goal in counseling my clients is to help them develop a healthy relationship between their bodies and food. This requires dedication and introspection. The connection that we have with food is deeply rooted and far-reaching. It often dates back to our earliest childhood memories and is completely entwined with our emotions. The fact is that I spend about 90 percent of my time with my clients talking about their feelings and emotions and only about 10 percent talking about food. That being said, you can’t make good choices about food without knowing how certain foods and ingredients can affect your health and emotional well-being. “
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Julie Feldman, MPH, RD, works in her own private practice based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, where she provides counseling and consulting services to individuals, families, teams, and corporations. She thoroughly enjoys spreading the message of sound nutrition, appearing frequently on television and in print as a nutrition expert.
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Jessica Snyderjoined the Spry Wellness Blog as a contributor in 2012. She is currently working to obtain an undergraduate degree in English and Communications at the University of Michigan.
As you might well know, we here at Spry are a little obsessed with keeping you healthy and well. Eating nutritious foods is one of the best ways to keep yourself healthy, but, for some people, it’s also a daunting or distasteful choice (literally!). March is National Nutrition Month, and to celebrate we’ll be running a number of foodie posts throughout the month. Then, in just a few short weeks, Julie Feldman’s new book Grocery Makeover: Small Changes for Big Results will be available. Julie can help anyone come up with an aisle-by-aisle strategy to getting the most nutritional bang for your buck.
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Healthy nutrition is crucial for good health. Poor nutrition can contribute to chronic diseases, it can lead to a person becoming overweight, and it can result in having less energy. Eating well supplies your body with the nutrients that it needs to function well, maintain a healthy immune system, and keep you going all day long. Making the switch to healthier choices can be challenging. However, many people find that starting with a few healthier choices and then gaining momentum can make it doable.
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To kick off National Nutrition Month, we’re having a contest! Submit your favorite health tip in a comment below and be entered to win a free copy of Julie Feldman’s Grocery Makeover!
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- To enter, submit a comment below with a health tip that has worked for you.
- Entries must be received before 8:00PM EST, March 15, 2013.
- One entry per person.
- A winner will be chosen at random from the entries that are received.
- For more information, see our Official Rules.
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So tell us: what tip helps you stay on track with your eating?
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Jessica Snyder joined the Spry Wellness Blog as a contributor in 2012. She is currently working to obtain an undergraduate degree in English and Communications at the University of Michigan.
Our hearts are the driving force behind all that we do. We associate the deepest emotion with its existence and energy. We write poems and read novels about falling in love and what happens when you have a broken heart. In February we celebrate Valentine’s Day, the Hallmark holiday of love, along with American Heart Month, the American Heart Association holiday of prevention. Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States, yet the majority of the risk factors associated with heart disease are lifestyle choices that we can influence, including our eating habits, physical activity, smoking, high blood pressure, and weight. Why not dedicate the month of February to learning your risk factors, sharing your knowledge with the ones you love, and formulating a plan for prevention?
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Numerous tools exist in the virtual world to help you understand your risk for developing cardiovascular disease. Simply visit the American Heart Association to begin your own self-assessment. You can spread the word about heart health to the ones you love easily by sharing this article through your favorite social media outlets as well. Knowledge is power, and in this case knowledge is life-saving. One need not be 100 pounds overweight to be at risk of heart disease. Often risk factors can be silent until someone experiences a cardiac event. Assess your risk and proceed with conviction.
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Many people say the best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. This saying could not be any truer than in the case of heart health. The truth is, what men and women eat can affect their heart health as much as any other risk factor. Diet quality influences weight, blood pressure, risk of diabetes, and the ability to participate in physical activity. There are multitudes of fun, flavorful, and delicious ways to pump up your heart-healthy diet that your entire family will enjoy.
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Fill up on Flavonoids. Flavonoids comprise a group of over 6,000 chemicals found in plants. These compounds are often responsible for giving fruits and vegetables their deep, vibrant colors. In our bodies, flavonoids act as antioxidants and anti-inflammatories, protecting blood vessels and reducing inflammation that can lead to cardiovascular events. Flavonoids are found in high concentrations in foods such as apples, apricots, blueberries, pears, raspberries, strawberries, black beans, cabbage, onions, parsley, pinto beans, tomatoes, dark chocolate, and green tea. I don’t know about you, but a dark chocolate heart seems the perfect way to say I Love You this February.
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Find fiber in every meal and snack. Fiber has the natural ability to lower cholesterol by binding to it in the small intestine before the cholesterol is absorbed into our bloodstream. Fiber also is helpful at reducing cardiovascular risk, in that it helps to keep you feeling satisfied, thereby reducing daily caloric intake and weight gain. Adults should aim to get 25–35 grams of fiber per day, or 5–7 grams of fiber per meal or snack. Choosing whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and popcorn each time you eat will help you reach this goal.
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Opt for Omega-3s by substituting fish into your regular weekly routine. Studies indicate that the inclusion of two to three 3-ounce servings of fish in your diet each week can lower your risk of heart disease by as much as 30%. Fish is the perfect source of omega-3 fatty acids, the types that act to lower total cholesterol while keeping HDL cholesterol high, which is optimal. Salmon and tuna are often the best choices as they are high in omega-3s yet relatively low in mercury.
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This year, as you express your love to those close to you, remember how important it is to love yourself as well. A little knowledge, self-care, and lifestyle adjustment can go a long way to prevent a broken heart.
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Julie Feldman, MPH, RD, works in her own private practice based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, where she provides counseling and consulting services to individuals, families, teams, and corporations. She thoroughly enjoys spreading the message of sound nutrition, appearing frequently on television and in print as a nutrition expert.
Gary Scheiner MS, CDE has graciously agreed to share some of his thoughts about what trends he sees in his work as a Certified Diabetes Educator. His new book,Until There Is a Cure: The Latest and Greatest in Diabetes Self-Care, is an invaluable guide to understanding recent advancements in the world of diabetes care. The book will be hitting stores on February 26. I talked with Gary recently about what motivated him to pursue a career in diabetes education, why he thinks this accurate information is essential for people with diabetes, and how things are changing (and why it’s important to keep up!). The following are a few of Gary’s answers from a longer article that we ran a few months ago called Meet Gary Scheiner .
JS: What made you want to do what you’re doing?
GS: Living with diabetes 24/7 and seeing others struggling with it give me the drive to be in this field. It certainly ain’t the money! Nobody is getting rich providing diabetes education.
I’ve had type 1 diabetes since I was 18 … I was actually diagnosed in SUGARLAND, Texas (the irony is unbelievable). I use an insulin pump, CGM, and take Amylin/GLP-1 to manage hunger and post-meal spikes. My control isn’t always the greatest, but I do the best I can.
JS: Why did you feel you had to share the information in your book?
GS: Far too many people with diabetes are, shall we say, “underserved” by their healthcare providers. Many physicians are not up to speed on the latest technologies and are intimidated by them. As a result, their patients are not exposed to devices and techniques that could be benefitting them greatly.
JS: What tips or advice would you share with your readers?
GS: New medications, technologies, and techniques are useless unless you have the self-management skills to utilize them effectively. Take the time to work with diabetes educators on honing your skills and using the latest tools to achieve the best possible control.
JS: How important is it that a person with diabetes keeps up with technology?
GS: It is important, simply because it makes our lives (and I say “our” because I have diabetes as well) easier and our control better. However, technology without proper education and motivation to use it optimally is a grand waste of time.
JS: How have concepts of blood glucose management changed?
GS: We no longer need to mold a person’s lifestyle around their insulin program. We now mold the insulin program around the chosen lifestyle. PWDs can do just about anything they choose to do, as long as they have the tools and insight to match their insulin to the situation.
JS: What trends are you seeing in CGMs and other management technologies right now? Do you think they will last?
GS: The comfort, accuracy, and ease of use continue to improve with each newly released system. But more importantly, third-party payers are accepting this technology and are much more willing to cover the costs. Without coverage, CGM and other technologies would go nowhere.
As a Certified Diabetes Educator and person living with diabetes for more than 25 years, Gary Scheiner, MS, CDE, has received numerous awards for his work in the fields of diabetes care and self-management teaching. Scheiner has written six books and hundreds of articles on various topics in diabetes wellness. Additionally, he teaches the art and science of blood glucose balancing to people throughout the world from his private practice in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, USA.
Jessica Snyder joined the Spry Wellness Blog as a contributor in 2012. She is currently working to obtain an undergraduate degree in English and Communications at the University of Michigan.
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