by kelsey | May 2, 2013 | Diet, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
You have heard me say it many times, but once again, a diet rich in a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables does aid in good health and this specifically applies to our digestive health as well! The digestive tract is a very important part of our body and as many of you know, when somethings a bit off with it, you suffer! Eating healthy is truly going to make a positive impact on your digestive health and below are a few tips to focus on.
- Get Active! Activity speeds up the digestion process and can stimulate muscles within the GI tract helping your organs work more efficiently and effectively. Engaging in at least 30 minutes of activity most days of the week is helpful to your heart, weight, muscles, and your digestive tract. Yes, this is just another reason why we recommend daily activity so get up and get moving!
- Increase your fiber intake: Adequate fiber intake (25-35g/day) keeps everything moving smoothly. It slows down digestion and absorption and aids in better blood sugar control. Fiber keeps the intestinal walls healthy and functioning appropriately and it also acts as a scavenger and breaks up the bad cholesterol in our vessels, thus having a reduction on our risk for heart disease. Fiber is found in fruits and vegetables (the outer layers so be sure to eat the skins!), whole grains, beans, and lentils. If you aren’t getting much through your diet, you could try a fiber supplement such as Benefiber, Metamucil, or even flaxseed.
- Get plenty of water: When you increase your fiber intake, you need to make sure you are getting adequate water intake. Not drinking enough water can slow down your digestive tract and contribute to constipation. Getting at least 8 glasses of water a day is very helpful!
- Limit fats: Fats are harder to break down and digest and can slow down your digestive system. Limiting saturated and trans fats…and your total amount of fat will help improve your digestive tract, keep things moving appropriately, and aid in a healthy heart and waist line. Choose low fat or fat free dairy products, lean meats, and healthy oils such as canola oil or olive oil.
- Practice Mindful Eating: take your time when you’re eating and really focus on your fullness factors. It takes 20 minutes for our stomach to tell our brain we’re full and most of us are done eating by then and are stuffed. Slow the process down and savor each bite. You will be more apt to recognize your fullness and hunger factors while allowing your body to fully breakdown and absorb the nutrients. Mindful eating also promotes a healthy weight which is very important as well!
- Probiotics: probiotics are the good bacteria typically found in yogurt and are used to prevent and improve a variety of conditions that affect the GI tract. Activia yogurt as a greater amount of probiotics than the regular yogurt so you may try having 1-2 tubs/day depending on your condition. You can also find probiotics in the supplement form.
- Limit sodium: limiting sodium will help reduce bloating and swelling. It will also help improve your heart health. Aim for keeping your sodium intake to less than 2400mg/day.
Many of these tips you have heard me discuss before in relationship to other diseases, weight management, or overall health. Healthy eating truly affects all parts of the body, thus it’s very important to limit the junk foods and stick to a well balanced, healthy diet to keep your body and in particular your digestive tract healthy!
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Apr 24, 2013 | Diet, Motivation, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
Coming up with a relevant and useful topic to our blog posts is sometimes a challenge as we want our information to be useful and we try to not repeat ourselves too much! As I contemplated what to write about today I thought about what I have been working on with my patients recently and it seems the majority are all in the same boat….this long, undesirable winter has caused the motivation to eat healthy and exercise to fly out the window. It’s hard to be motivated when every other day we’re getting a blizzard, the sun hasn’t shined for days, and we have to worry about driving in these poor conditions. Emotional eating becomes more prominent and the motivation to exercise is no longer there. I noticed my mood and attitude was much better yesterday as I woke up to the bright sun shining compared to the wintery weather I woke up to on Monday. If you have succumbed to this trap, it’s important to tell you that it’s never too late to get back on the band wagon! Below are a few tips to get you started:
- Why are you eating? The first step is to recognize why you are eating emotionally. Keeping a journal and reflecting on this question is helpful.
- What is missing? Are you neglecting a part of your life such as your spirituality, family, friends/social life?
- What areas need more focus? Food and eating is often used to fill an empty hole or void in your life. Figuring out what area needs focus will allow you to find effective ways to gain more balance in your life.
- Are you planning activities that do not involve food?
Food is always present at gatherings, activities, etc. Work on planning activities that do not revolve around food to help you learn how to enjoy life without focusing on food.
- Are you prepared? Meal planning and prep is really key to success. Take some time on the weekend to plan your week’s menu, take meat out of the freezer, pre-prep some of your items and keep healthy food choices in your purse, desk, etc….this will help prevent you from convenience eating and making poor choices.
- Focus, Determination, Motivate! Think of eating healthy and exercise like you do your job. No one wants to perform mediocre at their job, so why are you performing mediocre with your life choices. You only get one body and it will perform like you treat it…if you eat crappy, put on weight, don’t exercise, you will be sluggish, lethargic, and not able to enjoy the things you want to do. Instead, gradually work into a regular exercise routine and replace the junk foods with healthy ones and you’ll notice you have more energy, your sleep will improve, and you’ll be able to focus better. “You are what you eat” really does mean something!
We never expect these changes to happen overnight so focus on a few things at a time as you gradually work back into a healthy way of life. It can start slow with a 10 minute walk a day, adding a piece of fruit to your daily intake, keeping a food log, etc….it’s never to late to get back on track!
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Mar 14, 2013 | Diabetes, Diet, Food, Weight Management
Does your sweet tooth ever get the best of you? Mine sure does! County Fair Foods had an excellent and very tasty sweet treat at our lecture on Tuesday. The recipe is easy and it’s very tasty, be sure to give it a try!
Fruit Cobbler
1-16oz bags of frozen fruit
1 boxed angel food cake mix
1 12 oz can diet 7up
Place fruit in bottom of a 9×13 pan. Pour angel food cake mix over the top and add 7up. Do not mix. Bake 1 hour.
Enjoy!
Kelsey
by kelsey | Mar 13, 2013 | Diet, Etc., Wellness/Health
Today, March 13th is Registered Dietitian Day! It’s a special day to celebrate the work RDs do and recognize how important an RD can be to you with your wellness goals! Last week, I had the opportunity to be a part of the Women in Science day at LATI. This day is for 8th grade girls who are interested in a career in science. There were several other professionals there and the girls rotated through our stations as they learned more about careers in science. Whenever I do talks like these, I usually get asked interesting questions, but the question that stood out to me most was asked by a very polite and nice young lady from Sisseton. She asked, “what made you decide to be a dietitian?” This question sparked my attention and I was happy to share with the group why I chose dietetics as my profession and how I got to where I am today. To celebrate RD day, I thought I’d share a little with you as well!
As many of you know, I grew up in a medical household where talking about anatomy, biology, health, and science was a daily and normal thing. We (my older brothers and I) would get to follow my dad on rounds at the hospital on Sundays before or after church and spend time roaming the clinic (this usually involved wheelchair races…we never broke anything or got hurt so don’t worry!) when he was charting after hours (this was the time of paper charts, not EMR!). I took as much science and math classes as I could in school and I was fortunate to take a nutrition class taught by Jensi Andrus my senior year at WHS. I was already interested in health and nutrition but this class really sparked my interest. I decided to go to Augustana College as a pre-optometry student majoring in Biology. I enjoyed my classes and the school, but something didn’t feel quite right. I took another nutrition class at Augie and knew from then on, that was what I wanted to do. In a matter of a few days I decided to change my major to dietetics and since Augie didn’t have dietetics, I transferred to SDSU. The transfer was one of the best things I have ever done as I also got the opportunity to compete on the new Varsity Equestrian team while I was there.
I am grateful to have the opportunity to work with a great group of people here at Brown Clinic and of course all of you! The best part of my job is seeing the improvements people make in their health, wellness and lifestyle just by improving what they eat and how much (and course exercising!). Nutrition can really play a key role in disease prevention and disease management. We can’t control our genetics but what we can control is the choices we make in regards to food and activity…and getting to be a part of these improvements is very fulfilling and well worth it!
So to celebrate RD Day, I challenge you to consume an extra serving of fruit or veggies today or get an additional 10-15 minutes of activity. Gradually work into these changes and they will eventually become habit!
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Mar 7, 2013 | Cooking Tips, Diet, Food, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
Fish is not the most popular protein in our area since we are a land locked, northern state. Our mid-western diet typically includes proteins from beef, chicken, and pork…and fish often gets overlooked. During the Lenten season, it’s a good time to try out some new varieties and types of fish as they are better stocked and often times are better priced (ie- salmon, mahi-mahi, talapia, etc). The frozen bags of fish often have the filets in individual servings or two servings in a wrap so you can just take out as much as you need and then put the rest of the bag back in the freezer. Fish is a very lean and low fat protein so if you are watching your weight, it’s a good choice. Another benefit of some types of fish is the omega 3 fatty acids. Fatty fish such as herring, trout, tuna, mackerel, seabass, and salmon have these good fats. Our fresh water fish from around here such as walleye, northern, and perch, do not have these fats, however they are still lean proteins. It is recommended to incorporate two servings of fish into your weekly intake, so get into the habit of this during Lent and it could stick!
When we eat fish, we often think of it as breaded and fried, however that is not the healthiest choice. Instead of frying try these cooking methods:
- Grill: Season the fish with herbs and spices and a little lemon juice (from real lemons!). Lightly brush the fish with a little olive or canola oil so it won’t stick to the grill and cook for 10-20 minutes.
- Saute: You can saute any type of skinless fish. Again, season as desired and then heat a little olive or canola oil in the skillet on medium-high. Cook the fish for 2-3 minutes on both side.
- Poach: Place the fish in a saucepan or deep skillet and add enough stock, water, or wine to barely cover the fish. Add your seasonings, herbs, or spices and bring the liquid to a simmer on medium heat. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the center is opaque. Then you can dress it up with a sauce if desired.
- Bake: lightly coat a baking sheet with cooking spray and arrange the seasoned fish fillets on the sheet with seasoning. Bake for 7-10 minutes…you do not need to flip the fish. You can also put the fish filet in tin foil so the seasonings and herbs really flavor the fish.
- Broil: season the fish filet and brush with olive oil. Place on a broiler pan rack and broil 4-6 minutes on each side.
- If you choose to fry, try making it a little healthier by using an egg white to coat your filet, use canola oil to fry in, and instead of the white flour coating, try whole grain cracker or bread crumbs.
- When your fish is opaque and flakes easily, your fish is fully cooked.
Give it a try…you may be surprised how much you like it!
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Mar 6, 2013 | Cooking Tips, Diet, Eating Out, Etc., Food, Weight Management
Last night’s STRIVE 2 Survive sparked a hot topic about fish options. Many of you are eating more fish right now than you ever do due to the Lenten season. Jeff, with County Fair had some excellent choices of frozen fish that we reviewed and discussed, but it also brought up the topic of fast food fish choices. All of these fish sandwiches are breaded and fried, but how to do know what’s better than others? I did a little research for you to help you make better choices. When you look at the chart below, please take note of the calories, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat (the only place that has trans fat is Culvers), sodium (recommended to stay below 2400mg/day), and cholesterol (recommended to stay below 300mg/day). The carbohydrates are coming from the bun and a little from the breading and can easily be dropped by taking off half of your bun. Other important things to note is that holding the tarter sauce can save you about 100 calories and 5-10g of fat. Another healthy choice would be to get a side salad, instead of fries with the sandwich. And even better would be to make your fish at home like my picture of grilled shrimp above. We’ll discuss cooking methods tomorrow, so stay tuned!
-Kelsey
Nutrient Comparison
References: restaurant’s websites, calorieking.com, and myfitnesspal.com.
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Nutrition Facts |
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| Food Item |
Calories |
Total Fat |
Sat. Fat |
Trans Fat |
Cholesterol |
Sodium |
Total Carbs |
Fiber |
Sugar |
Protein |
| McDonalds Filet of Fish |
380 |
18g |
3.5g |
0 |
40mg |
610mg |
39g |
2g |
5g |
16g |
| *McDonalds Filet of Fish-No Tarter |
290 |
9g |
2g |
0 |
30mg |
530mg |
38g |
1g |
5g |
15g |
| *McDonalds Fish Bites (snack size) |
280 |
13g |
2g |
0 |
25mg |
420mg |
21g |
1g |
0 |
11g |
| McDonalds Fish Bites (shareable size) |
740 |
39g |
5g |
0 |
70mg |
1260mg |
63g |
4g |
1g |
33g |
| Burger King Fish Sandwich |
590 |
31g |
5g |
0 |
45mg |
1480mg |
57g |
3g |
8g |
21g |
| Burger King Fish Sandwich-No Tarter |
410 |
12g |
2g |
0 |
30mg |
1240mg |
53g |
3g |
6g |
21g |
| *Taco Johns Fish Taco |
280 |
14g |
4.5g |
0 |
35mg |
1160mg |
29g |
2g |
3g |
10g |
| Arby’s Fish Sandwich |
570 |
25g |
4g |
0 |
45mg |
1010mg |
64g |
2g |
9g |
21g |
| Arby’s Fish Sandwich-No Tarter |
450 |
15g |
2.5g |
0 |
35mg |
730mg |
59g |
2g |
6g |
21g |
| Culvers Cod Filet |
663 |
40g |
7g |
1g |
76mg |
979mg |
47g |
1g |
5g |
31g |
| Culvers Cod Filet-No Tarter |
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553 |
27g |
5g |
1g |
58mg |
877mg |
46g |
1g |
5g |
31g |
| Culvers 3 piece Cod Dinner |
1929 |
132g |
22g |
2g |
196mg |
2444mg |
108g |
8g |
18g |
75g |
| Culvers 3 piece Cod Dinner-No Tarter |
1553 |
96g |
16g |
2g |
148mg |
2172mg |
106g |
8g |
18g |
75g |
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