Fresh Focus

Dr. Joel Hamilton brings awareness of the Juneteenth flag with this bonus episode highlighting the arc, which represents a new horizon.

For those with cancer, eating can become a frustrating task. Some foods can aggravate symptoms, whereas some foods can help. Your taste buds can begin to deceive you. Your appetite can vary greatly. There are many appropriate questions and concerns to have during this process, even in regards to snacking. 

In this episode of Fresh Focus, Kathy attempts to answer some of these questions, and also talks about some great snack ideas for anyone that may be dealing with cancer. 

Non-starchy vegetables can be a phenomenal go-to to when it comes to snacking. They are nutrient dense, provide a low calorie source of volume, and they are very affordable! Join Beth as she discusses the benefits of vegetables as snacks, and gives us five usable tips to incorporate more into our intake! 

• #1 – Eat your vegetables first!
• #2 – Try convenient, and easy, options. 
• #3 – Bring life to your sandwiches and wraps with vegetables!
• #4 – Go slow. 
• #5 – Expand your palate. 

Snacking for people with diabetes!? Yes, of course!  As with anything else, proper knowledge and the appropriate incorporation of snacks can absolutely be an option for someone dealing with diabetes. 

In today’s world, there are many advances to diabetes medication and insulin regimens, which allows for intake to be more individualized than ever before. Join Natalie as she shares her expertise on how to identify glucose patterns, understanding common diabetes medications, and determining when (and what) snacks are appropriate. 

Kerri knocks this topic out of the park by getting into the ins-and-outs of concession eats! There are many options to consider at sporting events, and not often are they the most nourishing. There are so many other factors that come into play as well, including what meal of the day it may be, if we plan to eat something small to keep us tied over before a meal, if we are eating just to be eating, are we trying to lose weight, and so on.  

Kerri takes us through the ringer of how we can plan ahead, listen to hunger cues, be mindful, and practice other strategies that can help keep your next sporting event outing a positive one! 

In this episode, Sieger leads us down the rabbit hole in regards to the potential downfalls of snacking. Snacks, although enjoyable and sometimes appropriate, can sometimes be more of a hindrance than a help. How can we identify the difference? 

Sometimes we do things that aren’t quite working in our favor. Sometimes we have bad habits. It’s all about optimizing our intake and improving our relationship with food, snacks included. Join us as we discuss the issues with common snack choices, variables that can influence those choices, and how we can improve our intake structure in a way that works better for us!

Contributors: The Fresh Focus is a team of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists out of the Marion VA Health Care System.. 

Whether you’re a parent with kids at home, or a grandparent, aunt, uncle, babysitter, or friend, this episode is for you! Lauren leads us through some practical tips and ideas to make your whole family’s snacks healthier.

The typical American child eats about triple the recommended amount of added sugars and about double the recommended amount of sodium per day. We can help reduce that amount by starting with snacks and learning how we can make them healthier. We may not have a win with every recipe, but we owe it to our families to find items that are enjoyable while still being good investments in our health!

Listen in as Yaqutullah and Hillary share practical tips to reduce food waste and help save you money and time with meal planning.  VA Healthy Teaching Kitchen provides numerous recipes and meal ideas to fit your taste preferences and nutrition needs.  Have a plan to use up items that you have on hand to make sure don’t end up in the trash as food waste. 

Eating a plant-based diet can provide both health and environmental benefits. Listen in as Jennifer and Becca talk about the benefits of gardening and composting.  Composting offers a way to turn food waste into something that can benefit the environment. Consider starting your own garden. Gardening not only brings more plant foods into your life, but can also be good for the environment and help your budget too.

If you are looking at incorporating more plant-based proteins in your meals and snacks, listen to this episode as Shelby and Selena talk about some of their favorite recipes.     Be sure to visit the Healthy Teaching Kitchen YouTube Channel to watch videos and find plant based food items to try at home. You can have easy, delicious food choices while being more mindful on how they affect the environment. Check out the new VA Nutrition and Food Services  Practical Plant-Based Cooking Cookbook to find simple easy-to-find ingredient plant based recipes.